Chapter 6 - the judge who did not remember
The court order had been signed by Judge Arturo Méndez.
Diego knew him.
Méndez had attended Elena’s funeral and publicly praised her foundation work. When Diego called at one in the morning, the judge answered immediately.
“I never issued that order,” Méndez said.
“It carries your signature.”
“So did six property transfers investigated last year. Someone copied my electronic credentials.”
“Why was Valentina’s genetic profile restricted?”
“I don’t know. Send me the file.”
Within thirty minutes, Méndez confirmed the order was fraudulent. He issued an emergency release allowing both laboratories to deliver the paternity results.
Before ending the call, he hesitated.
“Diego, the false order references a sealed adoption case.”
“Valentina was never adopted.”
“The case was not filed for Valentina Vega.”
“What name?”
“Valentina de la Vega.”
Diego slowly looked toward the east wing, where Paulina was staying.
“Who was listed as the prospective parent?”
“I can’t access the complete file yet. But the application was submitted shortly after the child’s birth.”
Diego ended the call and summoned his attorney, Gabriel Santos.
Gabriel arrived before sunrise carrying three laptops and a folder of emergency filings.
By six, they had reconstructed part of the scheme.
A petition had been prepared to declare Marisol unfit and place Valentina into a private guardianship. The application claimed Marisol had abandoned the infant.
The listed guardian’s name had been erased from the digital copy.
But the address remained.
It belonged to a foundation controlled by Paulina.
“She planned to take Valentina?” Diego asked.
Gabriel adjusted his glasses.
“The petition was never completed. Elena appears to have stopped it.”
“Why would Paulina want my child?”
“Leverage. Inheritance. Or perhaps she intended to raise Valentina under another identity.”
Marisol stood at the doorway.
“Paulina told me I would lose my baby.”
Diego turned.
“When?”
“The night I left the mansion.”
She walked into the library.
“She found me in the greenhouse. She already knew I was pregnant. I had only confirmed it that morning.”
“What did she say?”
“That if I told you, Sebastián would accuse me of stealing from the foundation. She showed me account statements with my name on them.”
“The stolen money.”
“Yes. She said I would be arrested and the child would be placed with a better family.”
“Why didn’t you tell my mother immediately?”
“I tried. Her office was locked, and her phone was disconnected. Then I received the message from your number telling me to meet at the station.”
Diego’s hands curled against the desk.
“She separated us before either of us could reach my mother.”
Marisol nodded.
“Elena found me weeks later because she traced one of the false payments.”
Gabriel opened another file.
“There is something else. The guardianship application required proof that the child had Alvarado blood.”
Diego looked at him.
“Then Paulina knew Valentina was mine.”
“Or strongly suspected it.”
“Before I did.”
Gabriel’s phone chimed.
“The first laboratory released its result.”
No one spoke.
Gabriel opened the encrypted report.
Probability of paternity: 99.9998 percent.
Diego read the number twice.
Then he looked at Valentina, who had entered behind Marisol holding her cloud-shaped handbag.
She saw everyone staring.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Diego immediately crossed the room and knelt.
“No.”
“Why is Mommy crying?”
“Because we learned something important.”
Valentina studied his face.
“Are you my daddy?”
Diego looked at Marisol.
She gave one small nod.
His throat tightened.
“Yes.”
Valentina touched his cheek again.
“I knew because of the eyes.”
Diego pulled her gently into his arms.
For a moment, the investigation, the stolen years, and the people waiting to destroy them disappeared.
Valentina hugged him around the neck.
“Can I call you Daddy?”
He closed his eyes.
“You can call me anything you want.”
Marisol covered her mouth as she cried.
Gabriel quietly left the room.
A few seconds later, a loud crash sounded from the foyer.
Paulina stood beneath the staircase beside a shattered vase.
She had heard everything.
Her face was expressionless.
Then she began to clap.
“How touching.”
Diego stood with Valentina in his arms.
Paulina looked at the child.
“Congratulations, Marisol. Your plan worked.”
Diego handed Valentina to her mother.
“The test was conducted by an independent laboratory.”
Paulina smiled.
“Then perhaps you should ask why the second laboratory reached a different conclusion.”
Gabriel returned, staring at his phone.
May you like
The second report had just arrived.
Probability of paternity: zero percent.
