Chapter 8 - The DNA TrapThe DNA test arrived by courier.
It was sealed.
Doña Esther claimed it proved Alejandro was not biologically related to his father.
If true, everything changed.
Alejandro opened the envelope.
The results showed a 0.00% probability of paternity.
He stared.
Rafael whispered:
“It could be fake.”
Mateo took the report.
“The laboratory stamp is real.”
Alejandro turned toward Isabella.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded.
“I was there when your father took you.”
“Then why wouldn't the DNA match?”
Isabella's hands trembled.
“Because your father wasn't your biological father.”
The words stunned everyone.
Alejandro sat down.
“So who was?”
Isabella looked at Esteban.
Esteban opened a second folder.
“We found the original adoption records.”
Alejandro read the name.
Gabriel Marquez.
His uncle.
Isabella's brother.
Alejandro's biological father.
Dead twenty-eight years.
Doña Esther had built an entire false history around him.
Alejandro wasn't an Aranda by blood.
He was the Marquez heir.
The Aranda empire was only part of what he stood to inherit.
But another question remained.
“Why does this matter now?”
Esteban answered.
“Because your father's revised will transferred control of the Marquez trust to your first biological child.”
Alejandro looked at Valeria.
Their unborn baby.
Everything made sense.
Doña Esther wasn't trying to get the Aranda fortune.
She was trying to control the Marquez fortune.
Hundreds of millions.
Maybe more.
Then Alejandro noticed a line in the report.
The sample date was wrong.
The DNA sample had supposedly been collected two days ago.
But Alejandro had never provided a sample.
He looked at Mateo.
“This is fake.”
Mateo nodded.
“Exactly.”
The report was designed to make him doubt himself.
A psychological weapon.
Alejandro smiled bitterly.
“My mother wants me fighting everyone.”
Rafael stepped closer.
“And while you're confused, she takes Valeria.”
They hurried back toward the mansion.
Too late.
Police cars surrounded the estate.
Doña Esther stood on the front steps.
Beside her was a judge.
She held an official document.
“She has been declared mentally unstable,” Doña Esther said.
Alejandro stared.
“What?”
The judge raised the document.
“Valeria Aranda must be transferred for psychiatric evaluation.”
Valeria looked terrified.
“This is a lie.”
Doña Esther smiled.
“The medical records prove it.”
Alejandro looked at the pages.
The records showed Valeria had suffered hallucinations.
Paranoia.
Episodes of aggression.
Delusions about poisoning.
Every symptom had been carefully documented.
Alejandro knew it was fabricated.
But the judge didn't.
He took one step forward.
“You won't take my wife.”
Doña Esther's eyes hardened.
“You've already lost control of her.”
Then two officers seized Valeria.
She screamed.
“Alejandro!”
He lunged forward.
Rafael held him back.
The police drove away.
Alejandro stood frozen.
Then he heard his mother whisper:
“Your child will be safer without you.”
He turned.
For the first time in his life, Alejandro looked at Doña Esther not as his mother.
But as an enemy.
And he made a promise.
“I am going to destroy everything you built.”
Doña Esther smiled.
“You'll have to survive first.”
Behind him, Esteban opened his folder.
“The chapel is real.”
May you like
He pointed toward the mansion.
“And it is where your father hid the evidence.”
