CHAPTER 8: THE NURSE WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Sofía did not move.
Neither did Camila.
For a moment, the entire hallway became a silent battlefield.
Two women.
Two secrets.
One photograph.
And a truth that had been buried for years.
Camila’s fingers trembled as she held the picture.
She looked like someone who had spent a lifetime running from a memory.
“Sofía…”
Her voice cracked.
“I can explain.”
But Sofía did not answer.
Not yet.
Because she was trying to understand the impossible.
Camila Duarte.
The woman who had cared for Mateo.
The woman who had been accused of bringing dangerous products near him.
The woman who had looked terrified when questioned.
Was connected to her mother.
“How?”
The word finally escaped Sofía’s mouth.
Camila lowered her eyes.
“I knew your mother.”
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
The answer hit harder than expected.
Sofía stepped closer.
“My mother never mentioned you.”
Camila smiled sadly.
“That was because she was trying to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?”
Camila looked toward the nursery.
“From this family.”
The conversation moved to a private room.
Nicolás was called immediately.
He arrived within minutes.
The moment he saw the photograph in Camila’s hand, his expression changed.
Another secret.
Another missing piece.
Another person who knew more than him.
He hated that feeling.
A man like Nicolás Velasco built his life around information.
Information was power.
And someone had been controlling what information reached him.
For years.
“Start talking.”
His voice was cold.
Camila looked at him.
“I know you do not trust me.”
“You are correct.”
“But I never tried to hurt Mateo.”
Nicolás stared.
“Then why did you allow those products near him?”
Camila’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because I did not know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I was told they were medical products.”
Sofía interrupted.
“Who told you?”
Camila looked down.
“Dr. Ortega.”
The room became silent.
Again.
That name.
Always that name.
“Gabriel was alive this whole time?”
Camila nodded slowly.
“I saw him.”
“When?”
“The night before Mateo became sick.”
Nicolás stepped forward.
“You saw him inside this mansion?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you not tell me?”
Camila looked at him.
“Because he threatened me.”
Silence.
“What did he threaten?”
Camila looked at Sofía.
Then answered:
“Your mother.”
Sofía froze.
“My mother is dead.”
“Yes.”
Camila’s voice became softer.
“But Gabriel knew things about her death.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Every secret led back to the same person.
Gabriel Ortega.
The doctor who disappeared.
The man who created hidden experiments.
The man who was supposed to be dead.
“What did he say?”
Camila took a deep breath.
“He said Elena Reyes did not die because of illness.”
Sofía felt her heart stop.
“What?”
“He said someone helped her die.”
Nobody spoke.
Even Nicolás looked shocked.
Sofía had spent eight years believing her mother’s death was natural.
A cruel coincidence.
A tragedy.
Now that memory was being destroyed.
Piece by piece.
Camila explained everything.
Eight years earlier, after Mateo’s birth, Elena discovered the hidden research.
She found documents.
Medical reports.
Names of children.
Secret experiments.
She tried to expose Gabriel.
But Gabriel was protected.
By powerful people.
People who could erase records.
People who could silence witnesses.
Camila had helped Elena copy some of the documents.
Then everything collapsed.
“Elena told me one thing before she disappeared.”
“What?”
Camila looked at Sofía.
“She said if anything happened to her, I had to protect you.”
Sofía’s eyes filled.
“She knew she would die?”
Camila looked away.
“She knew she was in danger.”
The room became quiet.
Because sometimes the hardest truth was not discovering a lie.
It was discovering someone you loved had known the truth all along.
That night, Nicolás sat alone in his office.
For the first time in years, he opened an old drawer.
Inside was a photograph.
Adrian.
His brother.
A child with a serious expression.
A child who looked too mature for his age.
Behind the photo was a handwritten note.
Something Adrian had written before disappearing.
Nicolás had found it years later.
But he never understood it.
Until now.
The note said:
"Father is not searching for a cure. He is searching for proof."
Nicolás read it again.
And again.
His father.
Not Gabriel.
Not Leonor.
His father.
The man who had started everything.
The man who was dead.
Or so he believed.
A knock interrupted him.
Sofía entered.
“You knew something.”
It was not a question.
Nicolás looked at her.
“What?”
“Your reaction when you saw Adrian’s file.”
Silence.
“You remembered more than you told me.”
Nicolás looked away.
Because she was right.
There was something he had never told anyone.
Not even himself.
“When Adrian disappeared…”
He stopped.
Then continued.
“I saw him.”
Sofía froze.
“You saw him?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night everyone said he died.”
She stared.
“Explain.”
Nicolás closed his eyes.
“I was seven.”
His voice became quieter.
“I woke up because I heard shouting.”
He looked at the floor.
“I went downstairs.”
“What did you see?”
“A car.”
“And Adrian?”
“He was inside.”
Sofía’s breathing slowed.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did nobody save him?”
Nicolás looked at her.
Because the answer was the one he had spent thirty years avoiding.
“Because someone told me not to say anything.”
“Who?”
His voice became almost a whisper.
“My mother.”
The next morning, the mansion received an unexpected visitor.
A man arrived at the gates.
No appointment.
No warning.
Security stopped him.
But when Nicolás saw the camera footage…
He immediately ordered the gates opened.
Because the visitor was carrying something.
A file.
An old medical file.
The man entered slowly.
Older.
Tired.
Terrified.
He looked at Nicolás.
Then at Sofía.
Then at Mateo’s room.
“My name is Doctor Luis Herrera.”
Nobody spoke.
“I worked with Gabriel Ortega.”
Nicolás’s expression hardened.
“Why are you here?”
The doctor placed the file on the table.
“Because I know what happened to Adrian Velasco.”
Everyone froze.
“And I know why Mateo was chosen.”
Sofía opened the file.
Inside were medical records.
Photos.
Research notes.
Then she saw the final page.
A list of subjects.
Subject One.
Adrian Velasco.
Subject Two.
Mateo Velasco.
But below Mateo’s name…
There was another line.
Another subject.
A child whose name had been hidden.
Sofía looked at Nicolás.
Her voice barely worked.
“There was a third child.”
Nicolás grabbed the paper.
His eyes scanned the name.
Then his face changed.
Because the third subject was not a stranger.
It was someone currently living in the Velasco mansion.
Someone who had been beside Mateo every day.
Someone nobody suspected.
The name at the bottom of the page was:
May you like
SUBJECT THREE: VALERIA SERRANO.
END OF CHAPTER 8
