Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Watched My Father Die
“Clara.”
The name echoed in my head.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Victoria was still holding the phone.
Her face had lost all color.
I had known Clara Alvarez for twelve years.
She was my father’s former assistant.
The woman who helped organize his company after his death.
The woman who sat beside me at the funeral.
The woman who held my hand and told me:
“Your father would be proud of you.”
I believed her.
I trusted her.
And now Ricardo was telling me she was the person who betrayed my father.
“No,” I whispered.
Victoria looked at me.
“Mariana…”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“She wouldn’t.”
Dr. Ortega looked away.
That was when I knew.
He knew.
“You knew about Clara too?”
He didn’t answer.
I felt something inside me break.
“Everyone knew.”
My voice became louder.
“Everyone knew except me.”
Dr. Ortega stepped closer.
“Mariana, your father wanted to protect you.”
“By keeping me blind?”
Nobody responded.
Because they knew I was right.
For seventeen years, people had decided what I could handle.
What I should know.
What truths were too painful for me.
But nobody asked what it felt like to discover your entire life was built on secrets.
Victoria placed the phone on the table.
“The address Ricardo sent.”
She looked at me.
“It’s Clara’s old house.”
I stared at the message.
“Why would he send me there?”
Dr. Ortega answered quietly.
“Because Ricardo wants you to believe the wrong person.”
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
He took a breath.
“Ricardo is very good at controlling information.”
I almost smiled.
Almost.
Because that was the one thing I finally understood.
Ricardo never just lied.
He created stories.
He created enemies.
He created victims.
And he always made sure he looked innocent.
“What if he’s telling the truth?” I asked.
The room became silent.
Victoria looked surprised.
“You think Clara betrayed your father?”
“I think I don’t know anyone anymore.”
That was the truth.
The woman who raised me after my father died.
The husband I loved.
The people who promised to protect me.
All of them had hidden something.
I picked up my coat.
“I’m going.”
Victoria immediately stood.
“Mariana, we need to be careful.”
“I am done being careful.”
I looked at the hard drive.
“I spent years being careful with everyone else’s feelings.”
I looked at the door.
“Now I’m protecting mine.”
We arrived at Clara’s house thirty minutes later.
It was an old neighborhood.
Quiet.
Almost forgotten.
The kind of place where nobody would expect a secret to survive.
The house looked abandoned.
The curtains were closed.
The yard was overgrown.
But there was one thing that bothered me.
The front door was new.
Recently replaced.
Someone had been here.
Victoria noticed it too.
“Someone cleaned this place.”
Dr. Ortega looked worried.
“She shouldn’t still have access.”
I turned toward him.
“Who?”
He didn’t answer.
Again.
That was becoming a pattern.
I walked to the door.
My hand reached for the handle.
It was locked.
Victoria looked at me.
“Maybe we should call someone.”
“No.”
I looked at the house.
“I need answers.”
Dr. Ortega sighed.
Then he pulled out a small key.
I stared at him.
“You have the key?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“Your father gave it to me.”
Another secret.
Another thing nobody told me.
I took it from his hand.
This time, I didn’t ask permission.
I unlocked the door.
Inside, the house was dark.
But not empty.
There were papers on the table.
A coffee cup in the kitchen.
A jacket hanging near the entrance.
Someone had been living here recently.
“Clara is here,” Victoria whispered.
We walked slowly through the house.
The walls were covered with photographs.
Most of them were old.
My father.
The company.
Employees.
Family events.
Then I saw one picture that made me stop.
It was my father.
Standing next to Ricardo.
And Clara.
They were smiling.
But behind the photo frame was something hidden.
A small envelope.
My name was written on it.
Mariana.
My hands shook.
I opened it.
Inside was a single page.
The handwriting was not my father’s.
It was Clara’s.
I started reading.
Mariana,
If you found this, then Ricardo finally showed you enough of the truth.
But he did not show you everything.
My heart raced.
Victoria moved closer.
“What does it say?”
I continued.
I never betrayed your father.
I was the one who tried to warn him.
I stopped.
The room became silent.
I read the next line.
Ricardo was not working alone.
I looked at Dr. Ortega.
Then Victoria.
The letter continued.
The person who destroyed your father’s life was someone he trusted more than anyone.
Someone who had access to every account.
Every document.
Every decision.
My hands became cold.
I turned the page.
There was only one sentence.
The name of the person.
I stared at it.
My breath disappeared.
“No.”
Victoria looked at me.
“What?”
I couldn’t speak.
Because the name written there was impossible.
The person who betrayed my father.
The person who helped Ricardo.
The person who had been controlling everything from the beginning.
Was someone I never suspected.
Someone who had been standing beside me all along.
Before I could say anything, a noise came from upstairs.
A floorboard.
Someone was inside the house.
We all froze.
Dr. Ortega whispered:
“We are not alone.”
The footsteps moved slowly.
One step.
Then another.
Coming closer.
Victoria reached for her phone.
But the signal disappeared.
No service.
No connection.
Nothing.
The person upstairs stopped moving.
Then a voice called from the hallway.
A voice I recognized.
A voice I never expected to hear in that house.
“Mariana.”
My blood turned cold.
May you like
Because the voice belonged to someone who was supposed to be helping me.
The bedroom door upstairs slowly opened.
