Chapter 7 - The Man in the Doorway
“Julián, it's time you met Alma's real father…”
I stared at the doorway.
A man stepped into the room.
He was tall, dressed in a dark suit, with rain still shining on the shoulders of his coat.
For several seconds, I couldn't breathe.
Not because I recognized him.
Because Mariana did.
Her face lost every trace of color.
“Daniel…”
The man stopped.
His eyes moved to her.
“Hello, Mariana.”
I looked at my wife.
Then at the photograph in my hand.
Then back at him.
“The father is not you.”
The words from the back of the photograph seemed to burn through my mind.
I held it up.
“Who are you?”
He looked at me.
“My name is Daniel Serrano.”
Mariana closed her eyes.
I turned toward her.
“You know him.”
She nodded.
“How?”
She didn't answer.
Daniel walked farther into the room.
Dr. Varela immediately moved between him and Mariana.
“You weren't supposed to come here.”
Daniel smiled.
“Neither was Julián.”
Isabella stepped forward.
“Daniel, leave.”
He looked at her.
“You're still giving orders?”
“You know what they will do if they find you here.”
“They already found me.”
His expression hardened.
“They found all of us.”
I looked at Dr. Varela.
“What is going on?”
Nobody answered.
I stepped toward Daniel.
“Are you Alma's father?”
Mariana whispered:
“No.”
I turned toward her.
“Then why did he say that?”
Daniel answered.
“Because it is more complicated than blood.”
I hated that sentence.
I had heard too many versions of it.
I grabbed his jacket.
“Stop talking in riddles.”
He didn't resist.
“You deserve the truth.”
“Then give it to me.”
Daniel looked at Mariana.
She nodded.
He took a breath.
“I was the genetic researcher assigned to Mariana's pregnancy.”
My grip tightened.
“You worked for her family.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew about the research.”
“Yes.”
“What research?”
He looked at Isabella.
Then at Dr. Varela.
Finally, he said:
“Alma wasn't created naturally.”
Mariana began crying.
I released his jacket.
“What?”
Daniel continued.
“Your daughter was conceived naturally by you and Mariana.”
I stared at him.
“Then what did you mean?”
“After conception, the Beltrán laboratory discovered something unusual in the baby's genetic profile.”
“What?”
“A mutation.”
“Is she sick?”
“No.”
His answer came immediately.
“She is the opposite.”
I frowned.
“She carries a rare combination of genes that may help researchers understand a hereditary disorder that has killed generations of children.”
I shook my head.
“That doesn't make her property.”
“No.”
Daniel's expression darkened.
“But your wife's family decided she was more valuable as a research subject than as a child.”
My stomach turned.
“So they wanted the baby.”
“They wanted access to her.”
“Before she was born.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Mariana.
“You knew?”
She nodded.
“I found the records.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know who was involved.”
Her voice cracked.
“I suspected everyone.”
She looked at Daniel.
“Even him.”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“I deserved that.”
I stared at him.
“Did you help them?”
He took a long breath.
“At first.”
Mariana looked away.
I stepped back.
“You helped them?”
“I thought I was helping patients.”
“You were experimenting on unborn children.”
“I didn't know everything.”
“That excuse won't bring anyone back.”
His jaw tightened.
“I know.”
The room fell silent.
Then Isabella spoke.
“Daniel discovered what they were really doing.”
“And?”
“He tried to destroy the research database.”
Daniel nodded.
“They caught me.”
“What happened?”
“They gave me a choice.”
“Which was?”
“Work for them or die.”
I looked at him.
“And you worked for them.”
“For three years.”
My anger rose.
“Three years?”
“I secretly copied files.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because I have the original records.”
He reached inside his coat.
I immediately stepped between him and Mariana.
Daniel slowly pulled out a small black drive.
He placed it on the table.
“This contains everything.”
Dr. Varela stared at it.
“Where did you get that?”
Daniel looked at him.
“You know exactly where.”
The doctor's face changed.
For the first time, he looked frightened.
I picked up the drive.
“What is on it?”
“Names.”
“Whose names?”
“Every person involved.”
I looked at Isabella.
“Ofelia?”
“Yes.”
“Renato?”
“Yes.”
“Varela?”
Daniel nodded.
“And someone else.”
“Who?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Your wife's father.”
I froze.
“Her father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then how can he be involved?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Mariana suddenly whispered:
“He isn't.”
Everyone looked at her.
She stared at the photograph in my hand.
“My father died before I met Julián.”
Daniel nodded.
“Exactly.”
I looked between them.
“Then whose name is on the file?”
Daniel's face became serious.
“The man who controlled the entire operation wasn't your wife's father.”
“Who was he?”
Before Daniel could answer, the lights went out.
The room became black.
Mariana gasped.
I immediately reached for her.
“I've got you.”
Somewhere outside the room, a door slammed.
Then another.
A security alarm began screaming.
Daniel pulled something from his pocket.
“What is that?”
“A flashlight.”
He switched it on.
The narrow beam moved across the room.
Dr. Varela was gone.
I looked toward the observation window.
Isabella was still there.
But the door beside her was open.
“Where did he go?”
Daniel didn't answer.
He was staring at Mariana.
“She's the target.”
I moved toward my wife.
“What do we do?”
“Get her out.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere but here.”
Daniel pulled the IV stand toward the door.
Mariana tried to stand.
Her knees buckled.
I caught her.
“Easy.”
“I can walk.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“Julián, listen.”
“I am listening.”
“If they take me again, you have to protect Alma.”
“I'll protect both of you.”
She shook her head.
“You don't understand.”
“What?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“They aren't trying to take Alma after she's born.”
I stared at her.
“What are they trying to do?”
“Take her before.”
A metallic sound came from the hallway.
Someone was unlocking the main door.
Daniel switched off the flashlight.
We froze.
The handle moved.
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
A voice came through the door.
“Mariana.”
She went rigid.
I recognized it.
Ofelia.
“Open the door, sweetheart.”
Mariana whispered:
“Don't.”
I stood in front of her.
Daniel moved beside me.
Isabella came through the observation passage.
She was holding a small metal key.
“There's another exit.”
“Where?”
“Behind the equipment cabinet.”
We moved quickly.
Daniel pushed the cabinet aside.
A narrow passage appeared.
I helped Mariana inside.
She was weak.
Very weak.
I held her around the waist.
“Keep going.”
Behind us, the door handle moved again.
This time, it turned.
The lock clicked.
Ofelia's voice became sharper.
“Julián, you cannot hide her from me.”
I kept moving.
The passage ended at another door.
Isabella inserted the key.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
“What's wrong?”
“I don't understand.”
Daniel looked at the lock.
Then at the small drive in my hand.
“Wait.”
He took it.
There was a tiny metal strip on the side.
He pressed it against the lock.
A green light appeared.
The door opened.
We stepped into a dark underground corridor.
I looked back.
The laboratory door had opened.
Ofelia stood inside.
Behind her were two men wearing black medical uniforms.
She saw Mariana.
Then she saw me.
Her face hardened.
“Take the husband.”
The men moved.
Daniel pushed me forward.
“Run!”
I grabbed Mariana's hand.
We ran.
The corridor seemed endless.
Footsteps thundered behind us.
Mariana stumbled.
I caught her.
“Keep going.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
Daniel turned around.
“I'll slow them down.”
“No!”
He pushed us toward another door.
“Go!”
We reached it.
I pulled the handle.
Locked.
Mariana looked at me.
“Julián…”
I turned.
At the far end of the corridor, Ofelia was walking toward us.
Slowly.
Calmly.
She wasn't running anymore.
She didn't need to.
The men had blocked the other exit.
Ofelia raised something in her hand.
A small remote control.
She pressed one button.
A red light appeared above the door behind us.
Then another.
Then another.
Daniel looked at the ceiling.
His face changed.
“Oh no.”
“What?”
He pointed upward.
A speaker crackled.
A man's voice filled the corridor.
“Begin fetal transfer protocol.”
Mariana screamed.
“No!”
The door in front of us suddenly unlocked.
May you like
But instead of opening into freedom, it revealed a fully equipped surgical room.
And standing inside, waiting for Mariana, was the one person I had trusted enough to believe could save her...
