Chapter 9 - The Second Daughter
“Why does she look exactly like me?”
Mariana's voice trembled as she stared at the woman standing behind Ofelia.
The woman looked back at her.
Same dark brown eyes.
Same shape of the mouth.
Same small scar above the left eyebrow.
Even the slight tilt of her head was identical.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Ofelia kept the gun pointed toward the floor.
“Because she is your sister.”
Mariana shook her head.
“No.”
Isabella covered her mouth.
Daniel stared at the old birth record in his hands.
I looked from Mariana to the woman.
Then back again.
“You said she died.”
Isabella's voice broke.
“That is what they told me.”
The other woman finally spoke.
Her voice was almost identical to Mariana's.
“They told everyone that.”
Mariana took one step toward her.
“What is your name?”
The woman hesitated.
Then said:
“Lucia.”
Mariana's eyes widened.
“Lucia?”
Isabella stepped forward.
“That was the name I gave her.”
Mariana looked at her.
“You named me too?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don't I remember you?”
“Because you were six months old when they took you.”
Mariana's breathing became shallow.
I reached for her hand.
She held mine.
Lucia looked at me.
“You're Julián.”
“Yes.”
“I've seen pictures.”
“From where?”
She glanced at Ofelia.
“My sister's family.”
I looked at Ofelia.
“You knew she was alive.”
Ofelia lowered the gun slightly.
“I knew there was another child.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
She looked at Mariana.
“I knew.”
Mariana stepped forward.
“You let me grow up believing I was alone.”
Ofelia's eyes hardened.
“You were never alone.”
“I had you.”
“Yes.”
“And you lied to me.”
“Yes.”
The answer came so quietly that it seemed to hurt more.
Mariana stared at her mother.
“Why?”
Ofelia looked at Isabella.
“Because one child was easier to control than two.”
Lucia's expression changed.
“You're still lying.”
Ofelia turned toward her.
“You don't know what you're talking about.”
“I know exactly what happened.”
Lucia stepped into the room.
“I remember the clinic.”
Isabella looked shocked.
“You were a baby.”
“I wasn't.”
Lucia touched her temple.
“I remember pieces.”
Daniel moved closer.
“What do you remember?”
“White lights.”
She swallowed.
“A woman crying.”
Isabella's eyes filled with tears.
“That was me.”
Lucia nodded.
“And someone carrying me away.”
“Who?”
Lucia looked directly at Ofelia.
“You.”
Ofelia's face went rigid.
“I was trying to save you.”
“From what?”
“Your father.”
Lucia laughed bitterly.
“You told everyone I was dead.”
“Because if they knew you existed, they would have taken you.”
“Who?”
Ofelia looked at the floor.
“The researchers.”
I stepped forward.
“Your family?”
“Yes.”
Mariana shook her head.
“Then why did you keep me?”
Ofelia stared at her.
“Because I needed one child to keep the Beltrán line intact.”
Mariana's face hardened.
“You didn't need a daughter.”
“No.”
Ofelia's voice dropped.
“I needed an heir.”
The word hung in the room.
Lucia looked at Mariana.
“And I was the child they didn't want.”
Mariana shook her head.
“No.”
Lucia smiled sadly.
“They marked me deceased.”
Daniel opened the old folder again.
“There's something else.”
He turned the page.
His hands were shaking.
“The records say the twins were genetically identical.”
I looked at him.
“Twins?”
He nodded.
“But there's an additional notation.”
“What?”
He read silently.
Then looked at Mariana.
“One twin was born first.”
Mariana frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel turned the paper toward us.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
First heir: Lucia Beltrán.
Mariana stared at it.
“I was second?”
Ofelia said nothing.
Lucia stepped toward her.
“Yes.”
Mariana looked at her sister.
“Then why did they raise me?”
Lucia's face became cold.
“Because they thought you were easier to control.”
I looked at Ofelia.
“Where were you?”
Lucia answered.
“I was hidden.”
“Where?”
“In a house outside San Luis Potosí.”
“For how long?”
“Until I was eighteen.”
“Who raised you?”
“A woman named Teresa.”
Isabella began crying.
“I knew Teresa.”
Lucia looked at her.
“She told me about you.”
“Why didn't she bring you to me?”
“She tried.”
Lucia's voice became quiet.
“She died before she could.”
The room fell silent.
I looked toward the door.
The security men were still outside.
We didn't have much time.
I turned to Daniel.
“We need to leave.”
He nodded.
“There is another exit.”
Ofelia raised the gun again.
“No.”
I stepped between her and Mariana.
“You've lost.”
She shook her head.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“No.”
Her voice became desperate.
“You think this is about the baby.”
I stared at her.
“Isn't it?”
“It's about what happens after the baby is born.”
Mariana looked at her.
“What happens?”
Ofelia swallowed.
“The research program will collapse.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Alma is the last viable carrier.”
I felt a chill.
“Carrier of what?”
Ofelia looked at Mariana.
“The genetic sequence your daughter inherited.”
Mariana touched her stomach.
“Is Alma sick?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Ofelia's eyes filled with tears.
“She can cure a disease that has destroyed this family for generations.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That's not the whole truth.”
Ofelia turned toward him.
“Don't.”
He looked at me.
“The research isn't only about treatment.”
“What else?”
“They want to reproduce the genetic sequence.”
Mariana went still.
“Meaning?”
Daniel's voice dropped.
“They want more children.”
Lucia stepped forward.
“That's why they needed me.”
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“They wanted to compare the twins.”
“With Alma?”
She nodded.
“Me, Mariana, and the baby.”
I felt sick.
“They've been studying your family for decades.”
“Yes.”
“And now Alma is the final piece.”
Lucia looked at Mariana.
“They believe your daughter can give them what they need.”
Mariana's hand moved protectively over her stomach.
“They will never touch her.”
A sudden sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Fast.
Daniel looked toward the door.
“We have to go.”
He grabbed the old files.
I took Mariana's hand.
Lucia moved beside us.
Isabella followed.
Ofelia remained where she was.
I looked back.
“Are you coming?”
She stared at me.
“No.”
“Why?”
She looked at Mariana.
“Because if I leave, they will kill all of you.”
Mariana's face tightened.
“Then come with us.”
Ofelia shook her head.
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“I made my choice years ago.”
Mariana stepped toward her.
“Then make a different one now.”
Ofelia looked at her daughter.
For a moment, I thought she might lower the weapon.
Instead, she pointed it toward the corridor.
“Go.”
I didn't move.
“Ofelia—”
“GO!”
Her voice cracked.
The sound of running footsteps grew louder.
We moved.
Daniel opened a hidden panel behind the old files.
A narrow passage appeared.
Lucia went first.
Mariana followed.
I stayed beside her.
Isabella came behind us.
Daniel was last.
Before the panel closed, I looked back.
Ofelia stood alone in the room.
Gun in hand.
Tears on her face.
Then the lights went out.
We ran through the passage.
The tunnel was narrow.
Cold air rushed through it.
Mariana stumbled.
I caught her.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“The baby moved.”
I placed my hand gently over her stomach.
A tiny kick pressed against my palm.
For the first time that night, I smiled.
“She knows we're here.”
Mariana looked at me.
“She knows.”
Then another movement came.
Stronger.
Lucia stopped ahead.
“What is it?”
She turned toward us.
“I heard something.”
We listened.
At first, nothing.
Then a faint metallic hum.
Daniel's face changed.
“That's not a ventilation system.”
“What is it?”
“A generator.”
“Why is that bad?”
He pointed toward the tunnel floor.
A thin red line was glowing beneath the metal panels.
“Because this tunnel wasn't here for evacuation.”
I stared at him.
“What was it for?”
He swallowed.
“Transport.”
Mariana's face went pale.
“Transport of what?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Babies.”
Nobody spoke.
Then we heard a sound behind us.
A door closing.
Someone had entered the tunnel.
Daniel turned off his flashlight.
We froze.
Footsteps approached.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then stopped.
A voice came through the darkness.
“Mariana.”
She gripped my arm.
I recognized the voice.
So did she.
It was Renato.
But he wasn't alone.
Another voice whispered beside him.
A woman's voice.
Soft.
Almost identical to Mariana's.
Lucia's face went white.
“That voice…”
“What?”
She looked at me.
“That isn't possible.”
The footsteps moved closer.
Then the woman spoke again.
“Lucia…”
Lucia stopped breathing.
May you like
And from the darkness came a name none of us had heard in twenty-six years—
“Isabella, bring me my daughters…”
