CHAPTER 14: THE NIGHT ELENA REYES DIED
The words were quiet.
Almost too quiet.
But they destroyed everything.
Because I was there.
Sofía stared at Nicolás.
For several seconds, she could not process the sentence.
The man standing before her.
The father she believed was fighting to save Mateo.
The man who had spent days searching for answers.
Had been present on the night her mother died.
The night that had haunted her for eight years.
“You.”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“You were there?”
Nicolás did not move.
“Yes.”
The answer was simple.
Too simple.
Sofía stepped backward.
“You knew my mother.”
“I knew her.”
“You knew what happened.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me?”
Nicolás looked away.
That movement hurt more than any confession.
Because it confirmed everything.
“You knew.”
His silence answered.
The nursery suddenly felt too small.
The walls seemed closer.
The air heavier.
Sofía held the note tightly.
Her mother’s handwriting.
Her mother’s final warning.
Do not trust Nicolás Velasco.
Now she understood why.
“What happened that night?”
Nicolás closed his eyes.
For the first time, he looked like a man carrying a memory too heavy to hold.
“Eight years ago, I was not the man you know today.”
Sofía laughed bitterly.
“Were you better?”
“No.”
The honesty surprised her.
“I was worse.”
He looked at the floor.
“I was angry. Arrogant. I thought power solved everything.”
A pause.
“My father had died months earlier.”
Sofía watched him carefully.
“And?”
“And after his death, I found documents.”
“The research?”
“Yes.”
Nicolás looked at her.
“Your mother contacted me.”
Sofía froze.
“My mother contacted you?”
“She knew I hated what my father had done.”
“But you helped her?”
A long silence.
“I tried.”
The word mattered.
Tried.
Not succeeded.
Nicolás continued.
“Elena wanted to expose everything.”
“The experiments?”
“Yes.”
“The children?”
“Yes.”
“Mateo?”
His face changed.
“Yes.”
Sofía looked away.
“Then why did she die?”
Nicolás did not answer immediately.
Because the truth was worse than anything she imagined.
“She discovered someone else was continuing the project.”
“Who?”
He looked toward the hallway.
Toward the rest of the mansion.
Sofía understood.
Someone in the family.
“Who?”
Nicolás’s voice became quiet.
“Someone I trusted.”
A pause.
“My brother.”
Sofía frowned.
“Adrian?”
“No.”
The answer shocked her.
“Then who?”
Before he could answer…
A sound echoed through the mansion.
A crash.
Then shouting.
Security alarms.
Nicolás immediately moved.
But Sofía grabbed his arm.
“You are not leaving this conversation.”
His eyes met hers.
“Your life is in danger.”
“So is the truth.”
For a second, neither moved.
Then Nicolás said:
“After we survive tonight, I will tell you everything.”
The word survive bothered her.
Because he sounded certain.
The alarm came from the east wing.
The oldest part of the mansion.
The area nobody used.
When Nicolás and the security team arrived, the door was already open.
Inside was another hidden room.
Another secret.
Another piece of history.
The room looked like a medical laboratory.
Old equipment.
Files.
Photographs.
And in the center…
A chair.
A chair designed for a child.
Sofía stopped.
Because she understood immediately.
This was not a hospital room.
It was not research.
It was a place where someone had tested children.
Dr. Herrera looked around.
His face became pale.
“No…”
Nicolás looked at him.
“What?”
“This room.”
He touched the old equipment.
“This was never supposed to exist.”
“Why?”
“Because this was where Gabriel conducted the private tests.”
Sofía looked at the chair.
“How many children?”
Nobody answered.
Then Rafael found something.
A hidden drawer.
Inside was a small video recorder.
Still working.
The screen turned on.
A young Elena Reyes appeared.
Everyone froze.
She looked exhausted.
Afraid.
But determined.
“If you are watching this…”
Her voice shook.
“It means I failed.”
Sofía covered her mouth.
Her mother.
Alive.
Speaking.
The video continued.
“I need someone to know the truth.”
Elena looked directly into the camera.
“Mateo was not the only child.”
A pause.
“He was not even the most important one.”
Everyone looked at each other.
“What does that mean?” Nicolás whispered.
The video continued.
“Gabriel believed he could predict human potential.”
Elena looked down.
“But he was wrong about one thing.”
Her expression softened.
“Children are not experiments.”
A pause.
“They are choices.”
Then her voice became urgent.
“If Sofía finds this…”
Sofía stepped closer.
Her heart racing.
“Tell her…”
The video glitched.
Static covered the screen.
Then Elena’s voice returned.
“Tell her I never abandoned her.”
Tears filled Sofía’s eyes.
The message continued.
“Tell her the reason I kept her away was because…”
The video suddenly distorted.
A shadow appeared behind Elena.
Someone entered the room.
Elena looked terrified.
“No…”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Until Dr. Herrera whispered:
“She knew.”
Sofía turned.
“Knew what?”
The doctor looked at the black screen.
“She knew who the real target was.”
“Who?”
He looked at her.
“You.”
The room became silent.
Nicolás stepped forward.
“Explain.”
Dr. Herrera swallowed.
“Gabriel did not want Mateo because he was the perfect heir.”
“Then why?”
“Because Mateo was proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That Elena succeeded.”
Sofía frowned.
“I don’t understand.”
Dr. Herrera looked at her.
“Your mother changed the project.”
“How?”
“She replaced control with protection.”
A pause.
“She created a child who could adapt naturally.”
Sofía looked toward Mateo’s room.
“Mateo.”
“Yes.”
“But why am I involved?”
Nobody answered.
Then Rafael found another file.
A thin envelope.
Marked:
SUBJECT ZERO: FINAL REPORT
Sofía opened it.
The first page was a genetic analysis.
The second page was a photograph.
A baby.
Her.
The third page contained a sentence:
"Subject Zero demonstrated emotional resistance beyond prediction."
Sofía frowned.
Emotional resistance?
She turned the page.
Then froze.
Because the final note was written by Gabriel.
"The failure was not that she rejected control."
"The failure was that she learned compassion."
She looked at Nicolás.
“What does this mean?”
Before he could answer, a voice came from the doorway.
A voice everyone recognized.
“You finally found it.”
Everyone turned.
Leonor stood there.
But she was not alone.
Beside her was an older man.
Alive.
Everyone thought he was dead.
Nicolás stopped breathing.
Because the man beside his mother…
Was his father.
The man who had supposedly died years ago.
The man who started everything.
He smiled.
“My son.”
A pause.
“You have spent your whole life searching for the enemy.”
His eyes moved toward Sofía.
“But you never realized…”
He looked at the nursery.
May you like
“…the greatest experiment was standing right in front of you.”
END OF CHAPTER 14
