Chapter 6: The Grandmother Who Never Knew
The rain had stopped.
Drops of water still clung to the ancient jacaranda trees surrounding the Villaseñor family estate, sparkling beneath the afternoon sun.
Inside the grand colonial house, little Valentina stood quietly in the entrance hall.
Everything felt different from Diego's modern mansion.
Here, the walls were covered with paintings instead of glass.
Old clocks ticked softly.
The air carried the scent of cedar wood and fresh flowers.
It felt...
Warm.
Not because of the luxury.
Because someone had once loved this place.
Valentina hugged her stuffed rabbit.
"It's pretty."
Señora Elena Villaseñor smiled.
"My husband used to say this house had a soul."
The little girl looked around.
"Where's the soul?"
Elena laughed for the first time in days.
"Maybe hiding."
Valentina nodded seriously.
"We find it."
Back at the Villaseñor mansion, panic was turning into determination.
Diego stood before the enormous digital map of Mexico City displayed in the security center.
Every traffic camera connected to his private security network appeared on the screen.
Ricardo entered carrying a tablet.
"We found Miss Robles's vehicle."
Diego looked up instantly.
"Where?"
"It left the estate."
"At 11:46."
"Who was driving?"
"The image isn't clear."
"But..."
Ricardo enlarged a traffic-camera photograph.
The driver's face remained hidden beneath sunglasses.
However...
The passenger seat was empty.
Diego frowned.
"Valentina wasn't inside."
"No."
"So whoever left the estate wasn't transporting her."
Ricardo nodded.
"Exactly."
Diego's thoughts raced.
If Paulina hadn't taken Valentina...
Why had the security footage shown someone wearing her bracelet?
Meanwhile...
Paulina entered her downtown penthouse.
She threw her handbag across the living room before pouring herself a glass of wine with shaking hands.
Nothing was going according to plan.
She had only wanted to frighten Marisol.
Convince Diego that allowing the maid and her daughter into his life would create endless problems.
She never intended for the child to disappear.
Her phone suddenly rang.
Unknown number.
She answered carefully.
"...Hello?"
"You've lost control."
A deep male voice.
Calm.
Dangerously calm.
Paulina's face turned pale.
"You."
"I warned you."
"I didn't kidnap anyone."
"No."
"You simply opened the door."
Silence.
The man continued.
"Now someone else is taking advantage of your mistakes."
Paulina gripped the phone tighter.
"Who are you talking about?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
The line went dead.
She stared at the phone.
For the first time...
She realized she might also be a pawn.
At the family estate...
Elena led Valentina into a cozy sitting room.
The walls displayed generations of Villaseñor family portraits.
Valentina stopped before one large painting.
A young Diego.
Perhaps twelve years old.
Holding a puppy.
She pointed excitedly.
"Daddy!"
Elena froze.
"You recognize him?"
Valentina nodded happily.
"He smiles like that."
Elena slowly sat down.
Something no longer made sense.
When Diego was a child, he smiled exactly as the little girl described.
No newspaper had ever published this portrait.
No outsider had seen it.
How could she know?
Unless...
Children noticed things adults overlooked.
Elena studied the little girl's face more carefully.
Those eyes.
The curve of her cheeks.
The stubborn little chin.
They all belonged to the Villaseñor bloodline.
Her heart began pounding.
"Valentina..."
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?"
The little girl climbed beside her on the sofa.
"Okay."
"Who told you Diego is your daddy?"
Valentina frowned thoughtfully.
"No one."
"Then how do you know?"
She placed both tiny hands over her chest.
"I feel."
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
Children sometimes understood truths before adults were ready to hear them.
Miles away...
Marisol refused to leave the security room.
She watched every recovered frame again and again.
"There."
She suddenly pointed.
Ricardo paused the video.
"What?"
"The bracelet."
"What about it?"
Marisol leaned closer.
"It's too loose."
Ricardo looked confused.
"What?"
"Paulina always wore her bracelet tightly."
"This one's sliding down the wrist."
Diego looked carefully.
She was right.
The bracelet appeared noticeably larger than the woman's wrist.
Almost...
As if someone else were wearing it.
Ricardo immediately understood.
"A disguise."
Diego nodded slowly.
"Someone wanted us to believe it was Paulina."
"Enhance the face."
The technician sighed.
"I'll try."
Several minutes passed.
The software slowly reconstructed damaged pixels.
Piece by piece...
A blurred profile emerged.
Not enough for identification.
But enough to reveal one important detail.
Gray hair.
The woman on camera wasn't twenty-nine years old.
She was at least sixty.
Ricardo stared.
"That's impossible."
Diego's mind immediately raced through every possibility.
An older woman.
Wearing Paulina's bracelet.
Convincing Valentina to leave willingly.
Only one explanation made sense.
The child trusted her.
At that very moment...
Elena was helping Valentina bake cookies.
Flour covered the kitchen counter.
The little girl giggled each time dough stuck to her fingers.
"Cookies funny."
Elena smiled warmly.
"They're supposed to be."
The old cook watched from nearby.
She hadn't seen Señora Elena this happy since her husband's funeral.
The butler quietly approached.
"Madam."
"What is it?"
"There's news."
He handed her a tablet.
Every television channel in Mexico City carried the same urgent report.
BREAKING NEWS
DAUGHTER OF BILLIONAIRE DIEGO VILLASEÑOR REPORTED MISSING
Below the headline appeared Valentina's photograph.
Elena's hands began trembling.
The cookie tray nearly slipped from her fingers.
"Daughter..."
She slowly looked toward the child.
Who was happily cutting stars into cookie dough.
The television continued.
"Authorities have not confirmed whether the missing child is biologically related to businessman Diego Villaseñor..."
Elena no longer heard the rest.
She remembered the birthmark.
The eyes.
The portrait.
The way Valentina instinctively called Diego "Daddy."
Then...
One forgotten memory surfaced.
Three years earlier.
Her late husband had mentioned hearing rumors that Diego had fallen deeply in love with a young woman before suddenly losing contact with her.
At the time...
No one thought much about it.
Now...
Every forgotten piece began fitting together.
Back at the mansion...
Ricardo hurried into the security room.
"Sir!"
Diego turned immediately.
"We have a lead."
"What is it?"
"The woman in the footage."
He handed Diego a printed image.
"Our facial recognition system found one possible match."
Diego stared at the photograph.
His breathing stopped.
"No..."
Marisol looked over his shoulder.
Then covered her mouth in shock.
The name beneath the photograph read:
Elena Villaseñor
Mother of Diego Villaseñor
Marisol whispered almost inaudibly,
"...Your mother has Valentina."
Diego stood frozen.
His own mother had unknowingly taken his daughter.
But the question that truly terrified him was not where Valentina was.
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It was why his mother had been at the mansion in the first place...
Because Elena Villaseñor had not visited that estate in nearly four years.
