Chapter 10 - The Lullaby
We found Clara alive.
She refused to go to the police until she could explain everything.
She told me Mauricio had been using her for years.
But she had eventually turned against him.
She had protected Sofía.
“She is alive,” Clara repeated.
“Where?”
“In a place Mariana chose.”
I couldn't understand.
“Why didn't you bring her back?”
“Because Mauricio had people everywhere.”
Clara looked at Valeria.
“And because your wife trusted Teresa.”
Valeria's eyes widened.
“My grandmother?”
Clara nodded.
“Teresa knew where Sofía was.”
We returned home.
Teresa finally confessed.
Sofía had been placed with a trusted family after the accident.
She had grown up believing her father had abandoned her.
I felt destroyed.
“She thought I left her?”
Teresa cried.
“Mariana believed that was the only way to keep her alive.”
I asked for the address.
Teresa refused.
“Why?”
“Because Mauricio will kill her.”
I understood.
Then Valeria remembered the lullaby.
“Mariana didn't teach it to my grandmother.”
Everyone looked at her.
“She learned it from someone else.”
“Who?”
Valeria closed her eyes.
“My mother.”
Teresa nodded.
“She knew the song.”
“But why?”
“Because your mother was the one who cared for Sofía after the accident.”
I couldn't breathe.
Valeria had unknowingly grown up hearing the same lullaby.
She had carried it into my house.
And somehow, it had led me back to my daughter.
We followed the clues.
The final location was a small town outside Monterrey.
A modest house.
I stood outside for several minutes.
I couldn't knock.
What if she hated me?
What if she didn't remember me?
Valeria stepped beside me.
“You don't have to be perfect.”
“I failed her.”
“You're here now.”
I knocked.
A woman opened the door.
She was older.
Her eyes were kind.
Behind her stood a teenage girl.
I saw the eyes first.
My wife's eyes.
Then the small tilt of the head.
Sofía.
My daughter.
Alive.
She stared at me.
“Are you Alejandro?”
I couldn't speak.
She looked at Valeria.
Then at me.
“My mother said you would come someday.”
I fell to my knees.
“I should have come sooner.”
She didn't move.
For several seconds, neither of us did.
Then she stepped forward.
“Can I hug you?”
I broke.
“Yes.”
She wrapped her arms around me.
I held her like I was afraid she would disappear.
Behind her, Valeria cried silently.
But the reunion was not the end.
Because Sofía had something to give me.
A small envelope.
“This belonged to Mom.”
I opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Mariana's final message.
Alejandro,
If you are reading this, Sofía is safe.
Don't punish yourself forever.
Protect her.
Trust the people who chose kindness when they had every reason to choose revenge.
And forgive yourself enough to become her father again.
I couldn't see through my tears.
Then Sofía pointed toward the final page.
There was one more sentence.
Mauricio did not act alone.
Below it was a name.
Beatriz.
I looked up.
My administrator.
The woman who had stood beside me for three years.
And at that exact moment, my phone rang.
It was Beatriz.
Her first words were:
May you like
“You found Sofía.”
Then the call went silent.
