Chapter 19 - The BirthEverything happened at once.
Valeria was rushed into surgery.
The family waited outside.
Alejandro paced.
Gabriel prayed.
Sofia cried quietly.
Rafael stood by the door.
Hours passed.
Then a nurse emerged.
“Mr. Aranda?”
Alejandro rushed forward.
“The baby is being born.”
“Is Valeria safe?”
“Yes.”
“And the baby?”
The nurse smiled.
“A healthy girl.”
Alejandro's knees nearly gave way.
His daughter.
Alive.
Safe.
But then another nurse ran into the hallway.
“Wait.”
Everyone froze.
The baby's identity bracelet was missing.
Alejandro turned.
“What?”
The nurse's face went pale.
“She was transferred to another room.”
“Who authorized it?”
No one knew.
Alejandro ran.
The corridor was empty.
A service elevator was closing.
He saw a figure holding the newborn.
He chased it.
The elevator doors opened at the basement.
Rafael arrived.
They ran through the parking garage.
A black SUV was leaving.
Rafael fired at the tires.
The vehicle crashed into a barrier.
Alejandro pulled open the rear door.
The baby was there.
Alive.
A woman lay unconscious beside her.
Not Lucía.
Not Esther.
A nurse.
She woke slowly.
“I was ordered to take her.”
“By whom?”
The nurse started crying.
“Dr. Mateo.”
Alejandro froze.
“What?”
Mateo arrived seconds later.
He looked horrified.
“I never ordered anything.”
The nurse pointed toward another vehicle.
“He said the baby's identity was compromised.”
Alejandro turned to Mateo.
“Did you?”
“No.”
Then everyone looked at the nurse's badge.
It had been replaced.
She wasn't hospital staff.
She was one of Lucía's agents.
The plan had failed.
But Lucía was still free.
The authorities found her at the airport.
She had one piece of luggage.
Inside was the final archive.
Everything.
The fake medical reports.
The forged DNA.
The bribed judges.
The offshore accounts.
The entire conspiracy.
Alejandro stood behind the glass during her interrogation.
Lucía smiled.
“You won.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“My daughter won.”
Lucía's smile faded.
“She hasn't even learned the truth.”
Alejandro stared.
“What truth?”
Lucía leaned forward.
“The truth about your father.”
Gabriel walked into the room.
Lucía laughed.
“Ask him why he really disappeared.”
Alejandro turned.
Gabriel looked down.
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
Gabriel hesitated.
Then whispered:
“From myself.”
Alejandro felt his stomach drop.
“What did you do?”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“I started this.”
The conspiracy had begun with Gabriel.
The theft.
The forged inheritance.
The secret alliance.
And the first attempt to control the Marquez trust.
He had believed he could outplay Lucía.
He had failed.
The people who suffered afterward had paid the price.
Alejandro stared at him.
“You destroyed everything.”
Gabriel nodded.
“I did.”
May you like
Then he looked toward the nursery.
“But you can end it.”
