CHAPTER 7: THE SON WHO WAS ERASED
The name remained on the screen.
FIRST SUBJECT: ADRIAN VELASCO.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The basement felt colder than before.
Not because of the temperature.
Because of the truth.
Some secrets were like locked doors.
People feared opening them because they suspected something terrible was waiting behind.
But Nicolás had spent his entire life believing there was nothing behind this one.
Adrian Velasco.
His older brother.
The child who supposedly died when he was four years old.
The tragedy his family never discussed.
The photograph that disappeared.
The memories that became forbidden conversations.
Nicolás had been told one story his entire life.
Adrian became sick.
Adrian could not be saved.
Adrian passed away.
End of story.
But now a video from eight years ago was telling him something impossible.
Adrian was not a tragedy.
He was a secret.
Nicolás stared at the screen.
“No.”
The word came out quietly.
Rafael looked at him.
“Sir…”
“No.”
His voice became stronger.
“That is impossible.”
Sofía watched him carefully.
For the first time since arriving at the mansion, Nicolás looked lost.
Not angry.
Not powerful.
Lost.
“You knew him.”
Sofía’s voice was gentle but firm.
“Adrian.”
Nicolás did not answer.
That silence told her everything.
“You remember him.”
A long pause.
Then:
“I remember a boy.”
He looked at the old monitor.
“My brother.”
His fingers tightened.
“He was five years older than me.”
Nicolás sat down.
A man who had negotiated billion-dollar deals was now sitting in a dark basement, staring at a ghost from his childhood.
“He used to take me outside when my father was angry.”
Sofía listened.
“He told me one day he would leave this family.”
A bitter smile appeared.
“He hated this house.”
He looked around.
“This mansion.”
“Why?”
“Because he said everyone here smiled while hiding knives.”
The sentence stayed in the air.
Then Nicolás looked at the screen again.
“When he disappeared, everyone told me to forget.”
“Who told you?”
His eyes moved slowly.
“My father.”
A pause.
“And my mother.”
Above them, the mansion remained silent.
Too silent.
Sofía had learned something about places like this.
Beautiful places often carried ugly histories.
The marble floors.
The expensive paintings.
The perfect gardens.
They were not signs of happiness.
Sometimes they were just decorations covering cracks.
“Why would they erase their own son?”
Nicolás did not answer immediately.
Finally, he said:
“Because Adrian discovered something.”
“What?”
He looked at the screen.
“I do not know.”
Sofía frowned.
“You never asked?”
“I was seven years old.”
That answer stopped her.
A child.
A seven-year-old boy told to forget his brother.
A child who trusted the adults around him.
A child who never imagined the adults were lying.
They continued watching the hidden files.
There were dozens.
Most were incomplete.
Some were damaged.
But one thing became clear.
Dr. Gabriel Ortega had been studying children from powerful families.
Children who lived in luxury.
Children surrounded by expensive products, imported foods, advanced technology.
His theory was strange.
His belief was dangerous.
He believed wealth itself could become a hidden source of harm.
Not money.
Not stress.
The environment.
The things rich families used without questioning.
But somewhere along the way…
His research changed.
He stopped observing.
He started manipulating.
The final video showed Gabriel speaking to someone off-camera.
“We cannot understand the limits unless we create controlled conditions.”
Sofía felt disgust.
Controlled conditions.
A beautiful phrase hiding an ugly meaning.
Experiment.
The camera moved slightly.
The person standing beside him was hidden.
Only a hand appeared.
A ring.
A family ring.
A Velasco ring.
Nicolás immediately stood.
“Pause.”
Rafael froze the video.
The hand remained on the screen.
A golden ring.
A symbol engraved into it.
Sofía looked closer.
“What does it mean?”
Nicolás’s face became pale.
“That ring belongs to the head of the Velasco family.”
“Your father?”
He nodded.
The room changed.
Because now the enemy was not an outsider.
Not a rival.
Not someone attacking the family.
The enemy was the family history itself.
“My father worked with him.”
Nicolás spoke slowly.
Sofía looked at him.
“And you never knew?”
“No.”
“Or you were never supposed to know?”
The question hurt.
Because it was possible.
The next morning, the entire mansion was tense.
Nobody slept.
Nobody trusted anyone.
Nicolás ordered every employee to remain inside.
Nobody left.
The atmosphere became unbearable.
Camila, Mateo’s caretaker, was brought to the office.
She looked terrified.
“I did not know.”
Nicolás stared at her.
“Know what?”
“That the products were dangerous.”
Sofía watched her.
“How long have you worked here?”
“Three years.”
“Before Mateo became sick?”
“Yes.”
“Did you notice anything unusual?”
Camila hesitated.
Then nodded.
“What?”
“Sometimes…”
She looked nervous.
“Sometimes someone would enter the nursery at night.”
Nicolás’s expression changed.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Camila.”
“I swear.”
She looked at Mateo’s room.
“I only saw a shadow.”
Sofía leaned forward.
“Was it a man or woman?”
Camila swallowed.
“A man.”
The room became silent.
“Describe him.”
Camila closed her eyes, trying to remember.
“Tall.”
“Anything else?”
“He had a scar.”
Sofía froze.
“What kind of scar?”
“Above his eyebrow.”
Nicolás and Sofía looked at each other.
The same face.
The same person.
Gabriel Ortega.
That afternoon, Sofía found something inside Mateo’s room.
Hidden beneath the floor panel.
A small metal box.
Inside was a letter.
Old.
Yellowed.
The handwriting made her heart stop.
Because she recognized it immediately.
Her mother.
Elena Reyes.
The letter was addressed to her.
Not Nicolás.
Not the Velasco family.
Her.
"Sofía, if you are reading this, it means I failed to protect him."
Her hands shook.
She continued.
"I need you to understand something. Mateo is not the first child."
Her breathing became faster.
"And he will not be the last if they continue."
A tear fell onto the paper.
Then she reached the final line.
The line that changed everything.
"The person you trust most inside that house is the one who knows the truth."
Sofía slowly lowered the letter.
The person you trust most.
Who did she trust?
Nicolás?
No.
She barely knew him.
Valeria?
Maybe.
But not enough.
Leonor?
Impossible.
Rafael?
A stranger.
Then she remembered.
The person who had helped her.
The person who had protected Mateo.
The person who had been there since the beginning.
Her eyes moved toward the nursery doorway.
Where Camila stood.
Watching.
Sofía’s blood turned cold.
Because Camila was crying.
And in her hand…
Was another old photograph.
A photograph of Elena Reyes.
But this time…
May you like
Camila was standing beside her.
END OF CHAPTER 7
