CHAPTER 3: THE SHADOW INSIDE THE MANSION
The scream was different.
Sofía knew it immediately.
There was a difference between pain and fear.
Pain made the body fight.
Fear made the body remember.
And Mateo was not crying like a baby who was uncomfortable.
He was crying like a baby who recognized danger.
The lights flickered once.
Then returned.
The kitchen was no longer empty.
Nicolás was already moving.
No hesitation.
No questions.
The man who controlled corporations and negotiations disappeared.
The father appeared.
He ran toward the stairs.
“Sofía!”
She followed him.
Behind them, security guards rushed through the hallway.
The Velasco mansion, which normally felt like a fortress, suddenly felt like a trap.
Every corridor.
Every room.
Every shadow.
Could hide something.
When Nicolás reached the nursery door, it was slightly open.
That alone was impossible.
He had ordered security outside every entrance.
Nobody was supposed to enter.
Nobody.
He pushed the door open.
“Mateo!”
The baby was in the crib.
Alive.
Crying.
But something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The room smelled different.
The clean cotton sheet Sofía had wrapped him in was gone.
The expensive curtains had been removed.
The luxury products had been locked away.
Yet somehow…
The scent had returned.
Lavender.
Cedar.
Chemical.
Sofía stepped inside slowly.
Her eyes scanned everything.
Not the baby first.
The room.
A mistake.
A beginner looked at the obvious problem.
An expert looked for what changed.
She noticed it immediately.
The window.
Open.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Nicolás saw it too.
“Who opened that?”
No one answered.
The security guards looked confused.
One of them stepped forward.
“Sir, nobody entered through the hallway. The cameras show no movement.”
Nicolás turned.
“No movement?”
The guard swallowed.
“Yes.”
Sofía walked toward the window.
She touched the frame.
Then looked at her fingers.
A thin layer of white powder covered them.
“What is that?”
Nicolás asked.
Sofía did not answer.
She smelled it.
Her expression darkened.
“Someone placed this here.”
“Placed what?”
“A scent diffuser.”
The guard looked confused.
“A diffuser?”
Sofía pointed toward the corner behind the curtain.
A tiny device had been hidden there.
Almost invisible.
Expensive.
Modern.
Designed to release fragrance slowly into the air.
Nicolás stared at it.
“But the curtains were removed.”
“Yes.”
“Then how did nobody notice this?”
Sofía looked at him.
“Because everyone was searching for what was visible.”
She removed the device carefully.
“This was never about the blankets.”
The room became silent.
“What are you saying?” Valeria whispered.
Sofía looked at Mateo.
“I am saying someone wanted him exposed.”
The security team searched the mansion again.
This time, differently.
Not looking for stolen items.
Not looking for weapons.
Looking for hidden devices.
By morning, they found three more.
One inside the nursery.
One near the laundry room.
One inside a cabinet where Mateo’s clothes were stored.
Nicolás stood in his office staring at the evidence.
Three devices.
Three locations.
Three opportunities to harm his son.
His hands rested on the desk.
His face was calm.
Too calm.
Everyone who knew Nicolás understood that calm was dangerous.
When he became angry, people could see it.
When he became silent…
People disappeared from his life.
“Find out who installed them.”
His security chief nodded.
“We will investigate every employee.”
“No.”
The man stopped.
Nicolás looked up.
“Every employee is too easy.”
The security chief understood.
“You think it is someone closer?”
Nicolás did not answer.
Because he did.
And that possibility was worse.
Later that afternoon, Sofía examined Mateo again.
The baby was calmer.
His skin had already started healing.
But she noticed something strange.
A small scar near his shoulder.
Not new.
Old.
She frowned.
“Valeria.”
The mother walked closer.
“Yes?”
“Has Mateo always had this?”
Valeria looked.
Her expression changed.
“No.”
She touched the scar carefully.
“When did that happen?”
“I don’t know.”
Nicolás immediately turned.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
Valeria looked guilty.
“When he was younger, he had many small reactions. The doctors said babies scratch themselves.”
Sofía looked at the mark.
“This is not a scratch.”
“What is it?”
She hesitated.
“I need more information.”
Nicolás stepped forward.
“Say it.”
Sofía looked at him.
“This scar looks like an injection mark.”
Nobody spoke.
The sentence landed like a bomb.
“Impossible,” Valeria whispered.
“Why?”
“Because Mateo has never had any unnecessary procedures.”
Sofía looked toward Nicolás.
“Are you sure?”
His expression hardened.
“Yes.”
“Who has access to his medical records?”
“My family doctor. The hospital. Security.”
“Anyone else?”
Silence.
Then Nicolás remembered.
A week before Mateo became seriously ill…
Someone had suggested hiring a private pediatric specialist.
Someone who claimed to have revolutionary treatment methods.
Someone who had been recommended by a family connection.
Nicolás slowly stood.
“Who recommended Dr. Gabriel Ortega?”
Valeria looked at him.
“Your mother.”
The room froze.
An hour later, Doña Leonor sat in the family room.
She looked calm.
Almost too calm.
Across from her stood Nicolás.
The son she raised.
The man she helped build.
But today he was looking at her differently.
“Why did you recommend him?”
Leonor sighed.
“I knew you would eventually accuse me.”
“I asked a question.”
“He was one of the best doctors available.”
“Did you know him before?”
A pause.
A small pause.
But Nicolás saw it.
“Yes.”
“How?”
Leonor looked away.
“My family knew his family.”
“That is not what I asked.”
The room became tense.
Finally, she answered.
“I trusted him.”
Sofía stood near the doorway.
Watching.
Listening.
Because something about Leonor bothered her.
The woman was hiding something.
But not necessarily guilt.
Fear.
Again.
Always fear.
“Nicolás,” Leonor said quietly.
“You are making a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“You are looking for a monster.”
She looked toward Mateo’s room.
“But sometimes the thing hurting us is not the person we expect.”
Sofía’s eyes narrowed.
A strange sentence.
Too specific.
“What do you mean?”
Leonor looked at her.
For the first time, there was no arrogance.
Only exhaustion.
“You think you discovered a problem.”
She whispered.
“But you have no idea what you just uncovered.”
Before anyone could respond…
The office phone rang.
Nicolás answered.
His security chief spoke.
The color slowly disappeared from his face.
“What happened?”
A pause.
Then:
“Repeat that.”
Everyone watched him.
“What do you mean the doctor’s records were altered?”
Silence.
Nicolás gripped the phone.
“Who changed them?”
Another pause.
Then the security chief said something that made Nicolás’s expression completely change.
Because the answer was impossible.
Impossible…
Unless someone inside the family had helped.
Nicolás slowly lowered the phone.
“What did they say?” Valeria asked.
He looked at Sofía.
Then at his mother.
Then toward Mateo’s room.
“The original medical records…”
His voice became colder.
“…were deleted six days before Mateo was born.”
Nobody breathed.
Because that meant one thing.
Someone had planned this before the baby even entered the world.
And whoever did it…
May you like
Had known Mateo would exist.
END OF CHAPTER 3
