CHAPTER 3 — THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
The gun was pointed at me.
I couldn't move.
Neither could Beatriz.
Even Isabella stopped crying.
She simply stared at the man standing beneath the cold moonlight.
My brother.
My dead brother.
Lucas.
For six years, I had believed Lucas was buried in a cemetery three hundred miles from this house.
I had attended his funeral.
I had watched the coffin disappear beneath the ground.
I had carried the guilt of his death like a stone in my chest.
And now he was standing ten feet away from me.
Alive.
Older.
Thinner.
His face was harder than I remembered.
But it was him.
There was no mistaking those eyes.
“Lucas?”
His jaw tightened.
“Don't call me that.”
My voice shook.
“You're dead.”
He gave a bitter smile.
“That's what you were told.”
I looked at Beatriz.
She was crying silently.
“You knew.”
She didn't answer.
“You knew he was alive.”
“I didn't have a choice.”
“You always say that.”
Lucas lifted the gun slightly.
“Enough.”
I raised my hands.
“Why are you doing this?”
He looked at Isabella.
“Ask your daughter.”
Isabella immediately stepped behind me.
Lucas's expression softened for half a second.
Then it hardened again.
“She knows.”
I turned around.
“Isabella?”
She was shaking.
“I don't know anything.”
Lucas laughed.
“Your mother told you.”
“No!”
“She told you before she disappeared.”
“I don't remember!”
“You were there.”
Isabella covered her ears.
“I don't remember!”
I pulled her close.
“Leave her alone.”
Lucas stared at me.
“You've been protecting her for six years.”
“Yes.”
“You don't even know what you're protecting her from.”
“I know she's my daughter.”
Lucas lowered the gun slightly.
“No, Daniel.”
His voice became quiet.
“You know she's your daughter.”
That sentence struck me strangely.
I looked at Isabella.
Then at Lucas.
“What are you talking about?”
Lucas took one step forward.
“Your daughter was never supposed to be yours.”
Beatriz whispered,
“Lucas, stop.”
He turned toward her.
“You've lied enough.”
I felt my heart pounding.
“Tell me the truth.”
Lucas looked at me.
“Your first wife didn't die.”
“I know.”
“She wasn't hiding from you.”
“Then where was she?”
He pointed toward the cellar.
“She was here.”
I stared at him.
“For how long?”
“Six years.”
My stomach turned.
“You kept her here?”
Lucas's expression changed.
“No.”
He looked at Beatriz.
“She did.”
I turned toward my wife.
Beatriz shook her head frantically.
“No.”
Lucas laughed.
“You locked her beneath this house.”
“I was protecting her!”
“From what?”
“From him!”
She pointed at me.
I froze.
“You were protecting her from me?”
Beatriz nodded through tears.
“You don't remember.”
“Remember what?”
“You were there that night.”
“What night?”
“The night Isabella was born.”
I shook my head.
“I remember everything.”
“No.”
Beatriz stepped closer.
“You remember what you were told.”
I felt dizzy.
“What are you saying?”
She whispered:
“Your first wife didn't disappear after giving birth.”
She paused.
“She disappeared before.”
I stared at her.
Lucas lowered the gun.
“Six years ago, your wife discovered something about your family.”
“What?”
“She found documents.”
“What documents?”
Lucas looked toward the house.
“Financial records.”
I frowned.
“That doesn't explain anything.”
“It will.”
He reached into his coat.
Then pulled out a thick envelope.
He threw it onto the stone floor.
“Open it.”
I didn't move.
“Open it!”
I picked it up.
Inside were copies of bank statements.
Property records.
Company transfers.
Names.
Dates.
Amounts.
I scanned them.
Then stopped.
One company appeared repeatedly.
Valencia Holdings.
I knew the name.
It was one of my father's companies.
My father had supposedly sold it twenty years ago.
But the documents showed something else.
Millions of dollars had been transferred through shell companies.
And the recipient account belonged to...
Beatriz.
I looked up.
“You stole from me.”
Beatriz shook her head.
“No.”
Lucas interrupted.
“She didn't steal it.”
“Then where did the money come from?”
Lucas stared at me.
“Your father.”
I felt the air leave my lungs.
“My father is dead.”
“So is your brother.”
He smiled bitterly.
“Apparently, your family is very good at dying.”
I ignored the remark.
“What did my father do?”
Lucas looked at Isabella.
“He paid people.”
“For what?”
“To make certain things disappear.”
My eyes moved back to the documents.
“What things?”
Lucas said:
“People.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
“No.”
“You wanted answers.”
“I don't believe you.”
“You don't have to.”
He pointed at the documents.
“Believe the signatures.”
I looked down.
The signatures belonged to my father.
But there was something else.
One document had my name on it.
My signature.
I stared at it.
“That isn't mine.”
Lucas said nothing.
I held it closer.
It looked exactly like my handwriting.
But I had never seen this document before.
“What is this?”
Beatriz whispered,
“The agreement.”
“What agreement?”
She looked terrified.
“The agreement that was supposed to end everything.”
I looked at her.
“End what?”
She began crying.
“Your father wanted Isabella.”
I froze.
“What?”
Lucas said quietly:
“He wanted the child.”
“Why?”
“Because of her mother.”
I shook my head.
“This makes no sense.”
“It will.”
Lucas lowered the gun completely.
“Your first wife discovered that Isabella wasn't born naturally.”
I looked at my daughter.
“What?”
Beatriz closed her eyes.
Lucas continued.
“Isabella was part of a secret medical program.”
My blood ran cold.
“What kind of program?”
“One your father funded.”
I felt sick.
“No.”
“Your wife found out.”
“And that's why she disappeared?”
“No.”
Lucas looked at Isabella.
“She disappeared because she tried to take Isabella away.”
I looked at my daughter.
She was crying silently.
“Why didn't she come to me?”
Lucas laughed.
“She did.”
“What?”
“She came to you.”
I shook my head.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“That wasn't possible.”
“It happened.”
“Then why don't I remember?”
Lucas stared directly into my eyes.
“Because you weren't yourself.”
I felt something cold move through my chest.
“What does that mean?”
Lucas stepped closer.
“Your father had doctors.”
“Doctors?”
“They gave you something.”
I looked at Beatriz.
She wouldn't meet my eyes.
“Something that erased the night your wife disappeared.”
My heart hammered.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Who did it?”
Lucas answered:
“Beatriz.”
I turned toward my wife.
She collapsed into a chair.
“I was trying to save you.”
“You drugged me?”
“I had no choice!”
“You drugged me!”
“I was told they would kill Isabella!”
My voice broke.
“You could have told me.”
“I couldn't!”
“You could have trusted me.”
“I did!”
She screamed.
“That's why I did it!”
Silence swallowed the garden.
Then Isabella spoke.
“Dad.”
I turned.
She was staring at Lucas.
“He's lying.”
Lucas looked at her.
“What?”
Isabella wiped her tears.
“Mom told me.”
Lucas's face changed.
“What did she tell you?”
Isabella took a trembling breath.
“She said Uncle Lucas wasn't supposed to come back.”
He froze.
I looked at him.
“Why?”
Isabella continued.
“She said if he came back…”
She stopped.
“Finish.”
“He would kill you.”
Lucas's expression went completely blank.
Then Isabella whispered:
“But Mom also said something else.”
“What?”
“She said…”
Isabella looked directly at Lucas.
“You aren't my uncle.”
The gun suddenly rose again.
But this time, it wasn't pointed at me.
It was pointed at Isabella.
I moved instantly.
I threw myself between them.
“Put the gun down!”
Lucas's finger tightened around the trigger.
And then a woman's voice came from the darkness behind him.
“Lucas.”
Everyone froze.
A figure stepped out from behind the trees.
A woman.
She was wearing a dark coat.
Her hair was longer than I remembered.
Her face was thinner.
But I knew those eyes.
My knees almost gave way.
Isabella screamed:
“Mom!”
The woman looked at me.
For six years, I had believed she was dead.
For six years, I had mourned her.
And now she was standing ten feet away.
Alive.
She looked at me and whispered:
“Daniel…”
Then her eyes moved to Beatriz.
“You finally found out.”
Beatriz began sobbing.
I couldn't speak.
My wife stepped backward.
The woman took another step forward.
Then she said the words that shattered everything I thought I knew:
May you like
“Daniel, Isabella isn't your daughter.”
And behind her, someone fired a gun.
