CHAPTER 9: THE MOTHER WHO WAS ALSO A SUBJECT
The room stopped breathing.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
The only sound was the soft ticking of the clock on the wall.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Like the mansion itself was counting down.
Nicolás stared at the document.
His eyes moved over the words again and again.
As if reading them enough times would force them to change.
But they did not.
SUBJECT THREE: VALERIA SERRANO.
He slowly looked toward Valeria.
The woman standing beside him.
The mother of his child.
The woman who had spent seven weeks crying beside Mateo’s crib.
The woman who had looked just as desperate as he was.
“Explain.”
His voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
Valeria looked at the paper.
Then at Nicolás.
“I don’t know.”
Nobody believed her immediately.
Not because they thought she was lying.
Because the situation was impossible.
Sofía watched her carefully.
Valeria was not acting like someone caught in a crime.
She looked like someone discovering a missing piece of her own life.
“You were part of the research?” Sofía asked.
Valeria shook her head.
“No.”
“Did you know Gabriel Ortega?”
A pause.
A very small pause.
But it existed.
“Yes.”
Nicolás’s expression changed.
“You knew him?”
Valeria closed her eyes.
“I met him once.”
“When?”
“Before Mateo was born.”
The room became heavier.
“How?”
Valeria looked down.
“My family hired him.”
The Serrano family.
Another powerful family.
Another name connected to wealth and influence.
But unlike the Velascos, they had always maintained a cleaner public image.
Philanthropy.
Charity.
Social projects.
A family that smiled for cameras.
A family that looked perfect.
But behind every perfect family was a door nobody wanted opened.
“My father was obsessed with genetics,” Valeria said.
Nicolás stared.
“What are you saying?”
“He believed wealthy families had responsibilities to create stronger generations.”
Sofía felt uncomfortable.
Because she recognized the language.
Not science.
Control.
“He thought children born into powerful families needed to be protected from weakness.”
Valeria laughed quietly.
But there was no happiness in it.
“He called it preparation.”
“What did Gabriel do?”
Valeria looked at the floor.
“I don’t know.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I really don’t know.”
Her voice cracked.
“Because I was a child.”
Everyone became silent.
A child.
Another child.
Another person used by adults who believed they had the right to experiment.
Dr. Luis Herrera opened another file.
“There is something you need to understand.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Gabriel Ortega did not begin with Mateo.”
He pointed toward the documents.
“He began with children from influential families.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed their environments were unique.”
Sofía frowned.
“Unique?”
“Rich children were exposed to thousands of artificial substances.”
Imported food.
Luxury fabrics.
Perfumes.
Cleaning products.
Medical treatments.
He believed these children were perfect examples of how modern wealth could create invisible damage.”
“That still does not explain experiments.”
Dr. Herrera looked uncomfortable.
“Gabriel became obsessed with proving his theory.”
“How?”
“He stopped waiting for natural reactions.”
A pause.
“He started creating conditions.”
The room went silent.
Nicolás clenched his fist.
“So he made children sick?”
Dr. Herrera did not answer.
He did not need to.
Valeria suddenly stood.
“I need air.”
She walked toward the door.
Nicolás watched her.
“Where are you going?”
She stopped.
“I do not know.”
The answer sounded strange.
Almost broken.
Sofía followed her outside.
They walked through the garden.
The same beautiful garden where Nicolás had stared helplessly weeks before.
Valeria stopped near a fountain.
“I swear to you…”
Her voice shook.
“I never knew.”
Sofía looked at her.
“Then why are you on the list?”
Valeria looked at the water.
“I don’t remember.”
That answer surprised Sofía.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean there are years of my childhood I cannot remember.”
Sofía became serious.
“Why?”
Valeria touched her temple.
“My parents told me I had an accident.”
“What kind of accident?”
“They said I fell.”
Sofía stared.
“Did you?”
“I don’t know.”
A cold feeling moved through Sofía.
Because this story was becoming familiar.
Missing memories.
Missing records.
Missing truths.
Back inside the mansion, Nicolás confronted Dr. Herrera.
“You worked with Gabriel.”
“Yes.”
“And you are just now coming forward?”
The doctor lowered his head.
“I was afraid.”
“Afraid of Gabriel?”
“No.”
He looked directly at Nicolás.
“Your family.”
The answer was unexpected.
Nicolás stepped closer.
“My family?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
The doctor hesitated.
Then said:
“Your father.”
Nicolás went still.
“He was the one who funded everything.”
The room became silent.
Sofía looked at Nicolás.
This was the second time his father’s name appeared.
The second time the dead man returned.
“What exactly did he fund?”
Dr. Herrera opened another document.
“The creation of a treatment.”
“A treatment?”
“For what?”
The doctor looked toward Mateo’s room.
“For children who inherited powerful families.”
Sofía frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if you believe power should continue.”
Nobody spoke.
Dr. Herrera continued.
“Your father believed wealthy bloodlines could not be allowed to weaken.”
Nicolás’s face darkened.
“He wanted perfect heirs.”
“Yes.”
A terrible realization entered the room.
Mateo was not chosen because he was sick.
He was chosen because he was valuable.
A future successor.
An heir.
A symbol.
That evening, Sofía examined Valeria.
Not as a suspect.
As a patient.
The results were strange.
There were traces of old chemical exposure in her system.
Not recent.
Years old.
The same type of exposure found in Mateo.
“She was exposed as a child.”
Nicolás looked at the report.
“What does that mean?”
Sofía answered carefully.
“It means Valeria may have been the first person Gabriel tested before Adrian.”
Nicolás looked shocked.
“Then why is she alive?”
Sofía looked at him.
“Maybe because the experiment worked.”
The sentence disturbed everyone.
Worked.
Not failed.
Not survived.
Worked.
Late that night, Sofía returned to the basement.
Something bothered her.
The files.
The subjects.
The pattern.
Adrian.
Valeria.
Mateo.
Three children.
Three generations.
Three families.
She searched through the old documents.
Then she found something hidden.
A handwritten note.
Not from Gabriel.
Not from her mother.
From Nicolás’s father.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
It said:
"The third generation will complete what the first two could not."
Below it was another sentence.
"Mateo must never know who he truly is."
Sofía froze.
Because the message was not about protecting Mateo.
It was about hiding something from him.
Something about his identity.
Then she heard footsteps behind her.
Slow.
Calm.
Familiar.
She turned.
Nicolás stood there.
But his expression was different.
He was holding another document.
A birth certificate.
An original one.
Not the official copy.
His voice was barely audible.
“Sofía…”
She looked at the paper.
“What is it?”
Nicolás stared at the document.
“The hospital changed Mateo’s records.”
“Why?”
He looked at her.
“Because Mateo is not my biological son.”
The world seemed to stop.
Sofía said nothing.
Nicolás continued:
“And whoever changed the records…”
His hands tightened.
May you like
“…wanted me to raise a child that belonged to someone else.”
END OF CHAPTER 9
