CHAPTER 10: THE CHILD WITH ANOTHER NAME
The sentence destroyed the room.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just quietly.
Like a crack spreading through glass.
Mateo is not my biological son.
Nicolás Velasco, a man who had built an empire by controlling every detail of his life, stood in the basement holding a piece of paper that proved he had never controlled the most important thing.
His own family.
Sofía stared at the birth certificate.
Then at Nicolás.
“Are you sure?”
His expression hardened.
“I checked three times.”
“DNA?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
A long pause.
“He is not related to me.”
The words were heavy.
Because everyone understood what they meant.
For ten months, Nicolás had believed Mateo was his son.
He had protected him.
Loved him.
Destroyed anyone who threatened him.
And now someone was telling him the child he would die for…
Was not connected to him by blood.
But Sofía noticed something.
Nicolás did not look angry.
He looked hurt.
That was different.
A man like him could survive betrayal.
But not losing a truth about his own child.
“Does Valeria know?”
Sofía asked.
Nicolás looked away.
“I don’t know.”
“You have not asked her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Because the answer was obvious.
He was afraid.
Not of the truth.
Of what the truth might destroy.
The relationship between him and Mateo.
The last thing in his life that felt real.
Upstairs, Valeria sat beside Mateo.
The baby was awake.
Calm.
Healthy.
For the first time in weeks.
She held his tiny hand.
“I’m sorry.”
She whispered.
“I’m sorry I don’t remember everything.”
Sofía stood at the door.
Watching.
Valeria noticed her.
“Did you find something?”
Sofía walked inside.
She looked at the woman who had spent seven weeks suffering beside her child.
A woman who might also be a victim.
But she had to know.
“Valeria.”
“Yes?”
“Did you give birth to Mateo?”
The question was unexpected.
Valeria froze.
“What kind of question is that?”
“Answer me.”
The room became silent.
Valeria looked at Mateo.
Then back at Sofía.
“Yes.”
The answer came immediately.
“I carried him.”
Sofía studied her.
“Are you sure?”
A tear appeared in Valeria’s eyes.
“You think I don’t remember my own pregnancy?”
“I think someone has been manipulating everyone.”
Valeria looked away.
“I felt him move inside me.”
Her voice shook.
“I remember his heartbeat.”
She touched her stomach.
“I remember the day he was born.”
Then she stopped.
Because something had changed.
A memory.
A small fragment.
A detail she had buried.
“Wait…”
Sofía stepped closer.
“What?”
Valeria closed her eyes.
“There was another woman.”
The room became still.
“What woman?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try to remember.”
Valeria pressed her fingers against her head.
“The hospital room.”
She breathed slowly.
“After Mateo was born.”
“What happened?”
“There was a nurse.”
Sofía’s heart stopped.
“A nurse?”
“Yes.”
“What did she look like?”
Valeria frowned.
“I don’t remember her face.”
“Anything else?”
Valeria whispered:
“She was crying.”
Meanwhile, Nicolás confronted his mother.
The confrontation happened in the old family library.
A room filled with books nobody read.
Memories nobody discussed.
Secrets nobody admitted.
Leonor looked at him.
“I knew you would come.”
Nicolás closed the door.
“You knew?”
She sighed.
“About what?”
“Mateo.”
Silence.
That was enough.
Nicolás felt something inside him break.
“How long?”
Leonor looked down.
“Since before he was born.”
His face changed.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing?”
“I was protecting him.”
“From what?”
Leonor looked at him.
“From you.”
The answer shocked him.
“Me?”
“You were becoming like your father.”
Nicolás stepped back.
“What does that mean?”
“You wanted control.”
Her voice became emotional.
“You thought money could solve everything. You thought power could protect him.”
A pause.
“And you never realized power was the thing that created the danger.”
Nicolás stared.
For the first time, he wondered if his mother had been hiding the truth for a different reason.
Not because she was guilty.
Because she was afraid.
“What do you know?”
Leonor looked toward the window.
“More than I wanted to.”
“Tell me.”
She hesitated.
Then:
“Mateo was not supposed to be born.”
Nicolás frowned.
“What?”
“Gabriel had another plan.”
“What plan?”
“To create the perfect heir.”
The words felt disgusting.
“A child without weaknesses.”
Leonor looked at him.
“But something went wrong.”
“What?”
“Your father died.”
Silence.
“And Gabriel disappeared.”
She lowered her voice.
“Then everyone thought the project ended.”
Nicolás stared.
“But it didn’t.”
“No.”
Leonor looked toward the nursery.
“Because someone continued it.”
That night, Sofía reviewed old hospital documents.
She was searching for one thing.
The nurse Valeria mentioned.
The crying woman.
The woman who was there after Mateo’s birth.
She searched.
Nothing.
No record.
No name.
No employee.
Deleted.
Again.
Everything connected to Mateo disappeared.
Then she noticed something.
A handwritten note hidden at the bottom of a scanned document.
A name.
Not typed.
Written.
Elena Reyes.
Her mother.
The note said:
"The baby survived because Elena changed the protocol."
Sofía froze.
Changed the protocol?
What protocol?
She continued reading.
"Subject Two was not supposed to survive naturally."
Her hands went cold.
Subject Two.
Mateo.
Not a baby.
Not a child.
A subject.
Then another line appeared.
"The replacement embryo was successful."
Sofía stopped.
Replacement.
Embryo.
The words barely made sense.
Until they did.
Her eyes widened.
Because suddenly the birth certificate made sense.
The changed records.
The missing information.
The lie.
Mateo was not Nicolás’s biological son.
But he was not just a random child either.
Someone had created him.
Someone had chosen his genetics.
Someone had designed him.
Sofía rushed to find Nicolás.
But before she reached the office…
She heard voices.
Inside.
Nicolás was speaking with someone.
A man.
An unfamiliar voice.
“You finally found out.”
Sofía stopped.
The door was slightly open.
Inside, Nicolás stood facing a stranger.
An older man.
Gray hair.
A scar above his eyebrow.
Sofía felt the blood leave her face.
Gabriel Ortega.
Alive.
The doctor looked directly at Nicolás.
“You always were slower than Adrian.”
Nicolás froze.
“Where is my brother?”
Gabriel smiled.
“You still think this is about Adrian?”
He stepped closer.
“It was never about your brother.”
A pause.
“It was about creating someone better.”
Sofía watched from the doorway.
Unable to move.
Gabriel turned slightly.
And looked directly at her.
As if he knew she was there.
Then he smiled.
“Finally.”
His eyes met hers.
“Elena Reyes’s daughter.”
Sofía froze.
Because the dead doctor had just spoken her name.
And then he said the sentence that changed everything:
“Your mother did not try to expose me.”
A pause.
May you like
“She helped me create Mateo.”
END OF CHAPTER 10
