CHAPTER 9 The Child They Were Never Supposed to Lose
Laura didn't remember sitting down.
One moment she was standing.
The next, she was on the edge of the bed, staring at Eduardo as if he had become a stranger wearing her husband's face.
The words kept repeating inside her head.
Daniel is the reason Isabel had to disappear.
Seven years.
Seven years of bedtime stories.
Seven years of scraped knees and fever nights.
Seven years of holding a little boy who called her Mommy.
And now Eduardo was telling her that everything began with a secret she had never been allowed to know.
"Say it again."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
Eduardo looked at her.
"Laura..."
"Say it."
He lowered his eyes.
"Daniel was not born the way you were told."
Her chest tightened.
"I don't care how he was born."
She pointed toward the door.
"I care about one thing."
"Where is Isabel?"
Eduardo didn't answer.
That was the answer.
The old Eduardo would have immediately tried to fix things.
He would have explained.
He would have touched her hand and told her everything would be okay.
This Eduardo didn't.
He just sat there.
Broken.
Like a man who had spent years running from something that finally caught him.
"Isabel was my sister."
Laura froze.
"What?"
"Not my wife."
The room seemed to tilt.
"But that photo..."
"The world thought she was my wife."
"Why?"
Eduardo looked toward the window.
"Because that was the story we created."
Laura stared at him.
"We?"
He closed his eyes.
"Silvana. The doctor. Me."
Her anger returned instantly.
"So you built an entire fake life?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Silence.
Then Eduardo whispered:
"Because Isabel was trying to expose them."
Laura leaned forward.
"Expose who?"
Eduardo looked at her.
"The people you've already met."
The doctor.
The stranger.
The organization behind the documents.
The people who had watched her for two years.
Her stomach turned.
"What did Isabel find?"
Eduardo rubbed his face.
"She discovered the medical program."
"What program?"
"A program that wasn't supposed to exist."
He hesitated.
"They recruited wealthy people. People with influence. People who could pay."
"For what?"
"Genetic matching."
Laura felt cold.
"Matching for what?"
Eduardo didn't answer immediately.
That terrified her.
Finally:
"Transplants."
The word landed like a weapon.
Laura remembered the medical document.
The word she didn't want to believe.
Donor.
"No."
Eduardo looked at her sadly.
"Yes."
She stood.
"You knew."
"I knew pieces."
"You knew they were using me."
"I didn't know the entire plan."
"But you signed."
His silence confirmed it.
Laura laughed.
A bitter, broken laugh.
"You always had an excuse."
"I was trying to protect you."
"No."
Her voice shook.
"You were protecting yourself."
Eduardo stood.
"Laura, listen to me."
"No."
"I need you to understand something."
"I understand enough."
She walked toward the door.
"I spent fourteen years loving a man who was never honest with me."
"That's not true."
"Then tell me one thing."
She turned.
"Was Daniel ever supposed to be mine?"
Eduardo couldn't answer.
That hurt more than anything.
A sudden sound interrupted them.
A phone ringing.
Not Eduardo's.
Not Laura's.
The office phone.
The old landline.
They both looked toward it.
Neither of them moved.
The phone rang again.
And again.
Finally, Eduardo picked it up.
"Hello?"
His expression changed.
"Who is this?"
A woman's voice came through.
Laura couldn't hear everything.
Only Eduardo's side.
"That's impossible."
A pause.
"No."
Another pause.
Then:
"Where are you?"
Eduardo looked at Laura.
His face had lost all color.
"What happened?"
Silence.
Then he whispered:
"She's alive?"
Laura stopped breathing.
Alive.
Who?
Eduardo slowly lowered the phone.
"Isabel."
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Laura felt like reality had cracked open.
"She's alive?"
Eduardo nodded slowly.
"I don't understand."
"Who called?"
"I don't know."
"But they said..."
He looked at the phone.
"They said Isabel wants to see us."
Laura stared at him.
"Us?"
A shadow crossed his face.
"No."
"What?"
"They only asked for you."
The next morning, Laura arrived at an abandoned chapel outside the city.
She didn't go alone.
Elena followed in another car.
They parked far away and watched.
"This could be a trap," Elena warned.
"I know."
"Then why are you going?"
Laura looked toward the old building.
"Because if there is even a one percent chance that woman is Daniel's mother..."
She paused.
"I need the truth."
Inside the chapel, dust covered the wooden benches.
Sunlight entered through broken windows.
Laura walked slowly down the aisle.
Then she heard footsteps.
A woman appeared from behind a pillar.
Older than the photograph.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
Laura forgot how to breathe.
The woman had the same eyes as Daniel.
"Laura Mendoza?"
Her voice trembled.
Laura nodded.
The woman looked at her for a long moment.
Then tears filled her eyes.
"You raised him."
Laura couldn't speak.
The woman stepped closer.
"I wondered what kind of person would love my son enough to protect him."
Laura's hands shook.
"You're Isabel."
The woman nodded.
"Yes."
"Why did everyone say you disappeared?"
Isabel looked away.
"Because I had to."
"Why?"
"Because they wanted Daniel."
The same words Eduardo had said.
But now they sounded different.
More terrifying.
"Who are they?"
Isabel reached into her coat and pulled out a small envelope.
"Before I tell you that..."
She looked directly into Laura's eyes.
"I need you to understand something."
"What?"
"Eduardo didn't choose you by accident."
Laura felt her stomach tighten.
"I know."
"No."
Isabel shook her head.
"You don't."
She handed Laura the envelope.
"Open it."
Inside was a photograph.
A hospital room.
A newborn baby.
Daniel.
And beside the baby...
Laura.
But the date was impossible.
The photograph was taken...
seven years ago.
Before Laura had ever met Eduardo.
Before Daniel entered her life.
Her hands began shaking.
"What is this?"
Isabel whispered:
"That's the first time you saw Daniel."
Laura stared at the picture.
"No."
"I never met him until after I married Eduardo."
Isabel's eyes filled with sadness.
"That's what they made you believe."
A terrible silence followed.
Laura looked at the photograph again.
Then noticed something in the background.
A hospital bracelet.
On her own wrist.
And beneath it...
A name.
Not Laura Mendoza.
A different name.
A name she had never seen before.
Patient: Elena Vargas.
Laura looked up slowly.
"Who is Elena Vargas?"
Isabel's expression changed.
Fear.
Pure fear.
"Laura..."
She stepped back.
"That's your name."
The world went silent.
"What?"
Isabel whispered:
"Laura Mendoza never existed."
Before Laura could respond...
A gunshot shattered the chapel window.
Isabel grabbed her hand.
"Run!"
They fell behind the wooden altar as another shot hit the wall.
Outside, tires screamed against the pavement.
Someone had followed them.
Someone who knew exactly where they were.
Laura looked at Isabel.
"Who is shooting?"
Isabel's face went pale.
"The same person who erased your identity."
A third shot echoed.
Then a voice came from outside.
Calm.
Familiar.
A voice Laura knew better than anyone.
"Laura."
She froze.
Because the person calling her name...
May you like
was Eduardo.
End of Chapter 9
