CHAPTER 10: ESCAPE FROM THE MENDOZA FORTRESS
The hidden door closed behind us.
The sound was small.
Almost invisible.
But to me...
it sounded like the world splitting in half.
On one side was everything I knew.
My grandmother.
My father.
Mateo.
The mansion.
The secrets.
The lies.
On the other side...
was darkness.
And Valentina Cruz.
She dragged me through the narrow passage without slowing down.
"Keep moving."
I pulled my arm away.
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere safe."
I laughed bitterly.
"Safe?"
My voice echoed through the tunnel.
"Does that word even exist anymore?"
Valentina stopped.
For a moment, she looked at me.
Not like an heir.
Not like a weapon.
Like a person.
"You have every right to be angry."
I looked away.
"Angry?"
I shook my head.
"I don't even know what I am anymore."
The tunnel was cold.
The walls were covered with old symbols.
The same Mendoza mark.
The same symbol that had followed me my entire life.
"You know what hurts the most?"
Valentina stayed silent.
"I spent years thinking nobody cared about me."
I swallowed.
"Then I find out everyone cared."
A pause.
"They just cared about what I represented."
Valentina looked down.
"Your mother would have hated this."
I froze.
"What?"
"She hated when people treated humans like pieces on a board."
She continued walking.
"That is why she fought."
I followed her.
Because for some reason...
hearing about my mother from someone who knew her felt like the only connection I had left.
"Who are you really?"
Valentina didn't answer immediately.
Then she said:
"My father worked for Adrian Valdez."
I stopped.
"What?"
She kept walking.
"Not by choice."
Her voice became colder.
"He was forced."
"Adrian controlled him."
"And when my father tried to leave..."
She looked away.
"He killed him."
I understood.
Pain recognized pain.
"You hate Adrian."
Valentina smiled slightly.
"Hate is too simple."
She touched the wall.
"He destroyed too many lives."
A loud explosion shook the tunnel.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
We both stopped.
"They found us."
My heart started racing.
"How?"
Valentina looked behind us.
"Because Adrian always knows where the exits are."
"Why?"
She stared ahead.
"Because he built them."
We ran.
The tunnel became narrower.
My lungs burned.
But something strange happened.
I noticed things.
Tiny details.
A loose stone.
A hidden wire.
A vibration in the ground.
Things I should not have noticed.
Valentina looked at me.
"You felt it."
I frowned.
"Felt what?"
"The trap."
I looked behind me.
There was a thin wire across the floor.
I hadn't seen it.
I had sensed it.
"What just happened?"
Valentina's expression changed.
"Your father was right."
I stopped.
"What?"
She looked serious.
"The project didn't fail."
A cold feeling entered my chest.
"Then what was it?"
She answered quietly.
"It was waiting."
Before I could ask more, a metal door appeared ahead.
Valentina entered a code.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
"What?"
She looked confused.
Then the door opened.
By itself.
I stared.
"What did you do?"
Valentina looked at me.
"I didn't do anything."
The door had opened for me.
Neither of us spoke.
Because we both understood.
The Mendoza system recognized me.
The heir.
The thing everyone wanted.
Inside was a room filled with old files.
Computers.
Documents.
Photographs.
A hidden archive.
Valentina walked in.
"This is where your mother kept the truth."
I looked around.
There were thousands of records.
Names.
Dates.
Experiments.
Everything hidden for years.
I touched one folder.
My name was written on it.
Again.
AURELIO MENDOZA.
My hands trembled.
Inside were medical reports.
My childhood.
Every test.
Every observation.
I read the first page.
Subject displays advanced learning ability.
Another page.
Subject demonstrates emotional resistance beyond expected levels.
Another.
Subject refuses psychological conditioning.
I frowned.
"Conditioning?"
Valentina took the papers.
"They tried to control you."
My stomach turned.
"How?"
She looked at me.
"Training."
I shook my head.
"I don't remember."
"Exactly."
The room became silent.
"What did they do to me?"
Valentina didn't answer.
Then a voice came from the speakers.
Everyone froze.
A familiar voice.
Adrian Valdez.
"Welcome to the place where you were born, Aurelio."
My blood went cold.
Valentina immediately searched for the source.
"Show yourself."
Adrian laughed.
"No need."
The screens turned on.
His face appeared.
Calm.
Relaxed.
Like this was a conversation between friends.
"You finally reached the archive."
I stared at him.
"Why are you doing this?"
Adrian smiled.
"Because you deserve the truth."
"Everyone says that."
My voice became angry.
"Everyone says they want to protect me."
Adrian nodded.
"And they all failed."
A pause.
"But I won't."
I laughed.
"You killed my family."
"No."
His answer was immediate.
"I revealed your family."
I frowned.
"What?"
Adrian leaned closer to the camera.
"Your father wants you to believe he saved you."
"Your grandmother wants you to believe she protected you."
"Mateo wants you to believe he regrets everything."
His eyes darkened.
"But none of them want you to know what happened after your birth."
I stared.
"What happened?"
Adrian smiled.
"Your father discovered the project had created something unexpected."
"What?"
His answer came slowly.
"You."
The screen changed.
A video appeared.
A small child.
Me.
Sitting in a room.
I couldn't be older than four.
Scientists stood around me.
A man asked:
"Do you know why you are here?"
Little me looked at the camera.
And answered.
"Because they are afraid of me."
My entire body froze.
I couldn't breathe.
I didn't remember this.
The video continued.
The scientist asked:
"Afraid of what?"
The child version of me looked directly at the camera.
And said:
"Because one day I will choose."
The screen went black.
Silence.
Valentina looked at me.
I couldn't speak.
Because I had just watched myself.
A child.
A child who knew something I didn't.
Adrian's voice returned.
"Now do you understand?"
"No."
My voice was barely audible.
"Understand what?"
His smile appeared.
"You were never created to rule the Mendoza family."
A pause.
"You were created to decide whether it survives."
The archive lights suddenly turned red.
An alarm began.
Valentina looked at the door.
"They're here."
I looked at her.
"Who?"
Her face became serious.
"The people who have been waiting for you since birth."
The door shook.
Once.
Twice.
Then a voice came from outside.
A voice I had never heard before.
But everyone else recognized.
Valentina stepped backward.
"No..."
I looked at her.
"Who is it?"
She whispered:
"The first Mendoza heir."
The door began opening.
Slowly.
A man stood behind it.
Old.
Powerful.
Carrying the same black ring.
He looked at me.
And smiled.
"Aurelio Mendoza."
His voice was calm.
"Finally."
He stepped inside.
"I can meet the son I created."
My blood froze.
Because he wasn't looking at me like family.
He was looking at me like a masterpiece.
May you like
And then he said:
"Welcome back, my child."
