Chapter 3 - The PhotographBy sunrise, Mariana had become a ghost.
Not literally.
Something worse.
A dead woman with a living face.
The fishing vessel drifted toward a small private harbor hidden between rocky cliffs.
Nobody spoke during the crossing.
Mateo slept most of the time.
Mariana didn't.
She sat beside him, staring at the memory card.
One tiny plastic rectangle.
It contained the difference between being believed and being buried.
When they reached shore, Gabriel took them to an abandoned coastal house.
It looked like it had been empty for years.
Dusty windows.
Cracked walls.
A rusted mailbox.
Mariana carried Mateo inside.
The older woman remained behind.
“My name is Rosa,” she said.
Mariana nodded.
“Thank you.”
Rosa studied her.
“Don't thank me yet.”
Gabriel locked the door.
Then he placed three phones on the table.
“None of these connect to public networks.”
Mariana frowned.
“You're prepared.”
“I've been preparing for fourteen years.”
“For what?”
Gabriel ignored the question.
He inserted the memory card into a laptop.
The screen flickered.
Security footage appeared.
The Aurelia.
Date.
Time.
Camera angle.
Mariana watched herself walking toward the stern.
Then Esteban.
Then Isabela.
The recording captured every word.
Her mother grabbing her.
Her father's admission.
Mariana's fingers trembling.
Mateo crying.
Then the fall.
Mariana covered her mouth.
The footage continued.
A woman on the upper deck suddenly glanced toward the camera.
Mariana recognized her.
“That's Sofia.”
“Who?”
“My cousin.”
Sofia appeared to look directly at the sensor.
Then she walked away.
Gabriel froze the frame.
“There.”
Mariana leaned closer.
Sofia wasn't looking at the camera.
She was looking at someone behind it.
A shadow.
A man standing in a crew-only corridor.
Mariana couldn't see his face.
But the man lifted a hand.
Sofia gave him something.
A small metallic object.
Gabriel enlarged the image.
It was a key.
“What is that?”
“Ship access key,” Gabriel said.
Mariana looked at him.
“You know what it is.”
“Yes.”
“Who is the man?”
Gabriel stared at the screen.
“Someone who shouldn't exist.”
Before Mariana could press further, another video loaded automatically.
No ship footage.
A scanned document.
Birth certificate.
Mariana's name appeared.
Then another.
Different hospital.
Different date.
Same mother's name.
Mariana frowned.
“What is this?”
Gabriel said nothing.
She scrolled.
The second certificate named a male child.
Birth date.
Hospital.
Mother: Isabela Salcedo.
Father: Esteban Salcedo.
The child's name had been blacked out.
Mariana stared.
“Who was this?”
Gabriel finally answered.
“You.”
Her mouth went dry.
“No.”
“Your family changed the record.”
“Why?”
“Because you were born with something they couldn't control.”
Mariana looked toward Mateo.
“What?”
Gabriel reached for another file.
A photograph appeared.
A newborn baby.
Tiny.
Wrapped in a white blanket.
A red birthmark on the wrist.
Three tiny dots.
Mariana stared.
She touched Mateo's wrist.
The same mark.
“No.”
Rosa stepped behind her.
“Look at the picture again.”
Mariana did.
The photograph was old.
But the woman holding the newborn wasn't Isabela.
It was another woman.
Mariana stared at the unfamiliar face.
“Who is she?”
Rosa answered quietly.
“Your real mother.”
Mariana turned around.
“What?”
Gabriel closed the laptop.
“You need to understand something.”
“No.”
Mariana shook her head.
“You don't get to give me pieces of my life and then tell me to wait.”
She stepped toward him.
“Who am I?”
Gabriel remained still.
“Your legal name is Mariana Salcedo.”
“I know.”
“Your biological name isn't.”
“What is it?”
Gabriel looked at Rosa.
Rosa nodded.
He took a breath.
“Mariana Varela.”
Mariana blinked.
“Varela?”
“The Varela family disappeared eighteen years ago.”
“Why?”
Gabriel's expression became grim.
“They were murdered.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Mariana whispered:
“By who?”
Gabriel looked directly into her eyes.
“The Salcedos.”
Mariana's knees nearly gave out.
“But if they murdered my family…”
“They thought they killed you too.”
“Then why did Isabela raise me?”
Gabriel stared toward the laptop.
“Because she wasn't raising you.”
“What was she doing?”
He answered with one sentence.
“She was protecting the secret that your existence proved her husband had committed treason.”
Mariana couldn't breathe.
Then a phone on the table vibrated.
None of them had touched it.
The screen displayed a message.
Unknown number.
YOU FOUND THE CAMERA.
Another message appeared.
NOW FIND THE BOY WHO INSTALLED IT.
May you like
Then a final message.
HE IS ON THE YACHT WITH YOUR FAMILY.
