Chapter 9 - Beneath the ChapelThe secret chapel was beneath the oldest wing of the mansion.
Esteban found the entrance behind a false wall.
Alejandro descended alone.
A stone corridor led to an underground chamber.
At the center stood a wooden altar.
Underneath it was a locked box.
Alejandro opened it.
Inside were letters.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Medical reports.
And a recording.
His father's voice filled the room.
“If you're hearing this, I am dead.”
Alejandro closed his eyes.
His father's voice continued.
“Esther is responsible for the poisonings.”
Alejandro froze.
“The first target was Isabella.”
Then:
“The second was Valeria.”
Then:
“If she is pregnant, Esther will move quickly.”
Alejandro's hands shook.
Another recording began.
A younger Doña Esther spoke.
“You should never have married that woman.”
His father answered:
“She is the mother of my son.”
“She is not family.”
“She will be.”
“She will destroy everything.”
“No.”
“She knows what we did.”
The recording ended.
Alejandro stared at the recorder.
What had they done?
Another file revealed the truth.
Esther had helped steal the Marquez fortune.
She had forged signatures.
Manipulated trustees.
Hidden offshore accounts.
But Gabriel Marquez, Alejandro's biological father, had discovered it.
He confronted her.
That same night, Gabriel died.
The family called it an accident.
Alejandro suddenly understood why his father had raised him in secret.
He wasn't protecting an inheritance.
He was protecting Alejandro from the woman who had destroyed his biological family.
Then footsteps echoed in the corridor.
Alejandro turned.
Rafael stood there.
“You need to see this.”
They returned upstairs.
The authorities had transferred Valeria to a private clinic.
But something was wrong.
The clinic wasn't registered.
Alejandro demanded records.
The address led to a former psychiatric facility owned by one of Doña Esther's shell companies.
They rushed there.
The building was nearly empty.
They found Valeria in a locked room.
She was conscious.
Weak.
But alive.
Alejandro broke the lock.
She rushed into his arms.
“You came.”
“Of course.”
“I knew you would.”
Then she pulled a USB drive from beneath her sleeve.
“I stole this from your mother's office.”
Alejandro stared.
“What is it?”
“Proof.”
“What proof?”
Valeria looked toward Rafael.
“The doctor who examined me.”
Mateo stepped forward.
“What about him?”
“He wasn't working alone.”
Alejandro frowned.
“With whom?”
Valeria whispered:
“Your father.”
Silence.
Alejandro shook his head.
“My father is dead.”
“I know.”
“But the documents say he ordered the tests before he died.”
Valeria handed him the drive.
“He knew he was being poisoned.”
“He was planning something.”
Alejandro opened the files.
A video appeared.
His father sat in the study.
Alive.
Healthy.
And speaking to someone off-camera.
“I know what Esther has done.”
The video ended.
Then a timestamp appeared.
Six months after his father's supposed death.
Alejandro stared.
May you like
His father had been alive after the funeral.
And someone had hidden it.
