Chapter 10 - The Brother Who Died
Tomás had survived the crash.
He remembered Paulina sitting beside him in the car before it left the road.
They had been arguing about the Serrano merger.
Tomás had discovered that Sebastián used Alcázar shipping routes to move stolen antiquities, unregistered diamonds, and political bribes across borders. He had proof stored in a safe deposit box.
Paulina asked him to surrender it.
He refused.
At the final curve above the ravine, the brakes failed.
Paulina opened her door moments before the car struck the barrier.
She jumped.
Tomás went over the edge.
He woke two days later in a private clinic with shattered legs, a fractured spine, and Esteban beside his bed.
“Why didn’t you contact us?” Diego asked.
“Because Esteban showed me the death notice before I could stand. He said Sebastián had people inside the police, hospitals, and our security team.”
“You could have contacted me later.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Your wedding announcement to Paulina was already being prepared. Every message I sent was intercepted.”
Diego looked at Esteban’s files.
“Why did Esteban save you?”
“He was trying to undo what he had helped Rafael create.”
“By hiding you for seven years?”
“By keeping me alive.”
“Those are not the same.”
“No.”
Tomás’s eyes were tired.
“Esteban is many things, Diego. Innocent is not one of them.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know. He left three days ago after learning Marisol had been hired at the mansion.”
“Did he arrange her employment?”
“Yes.”
Diego’s anger sharpened.
“Why?”
“To bring Valentina inside Alcázar protection.”
“He could have contacted me directly.”
“He did not know whether you were compromised.”
“By Paulina.”
“By anyone.”
Gabriel unfolded a copy of the trust.
“You said Valentina is not the only child named.”
Tomás nodded.
“Rafael added a second clause shortly before he died. If Diego’s firstborn could not inherit, control would pass to the firstborn descendant of either Alcázar brother.”
Diego stared at him.
“You have a child?”
Tomás looked toward the black window.
“I had a daughter.”
“Had?”
“She disappeared two years ago.”
“What is her name?”
“Lucía.”
“How old?”
“Eleven.”
Diego felt another piece of the puzzle shift.
“If she is older than Valentina, why hasn’t the trust transferred to her?”
“Because Rafael required public acknowledgment before age ten. I was legally dead. I could not acknowledge her without revealing myself.”
“Who is her mother?”
Tomás’s jaw tightened.
“Paulina.”
Silence swallowed the room.
Diego’s face emptied of expression.
“Paulina has a child with you.”
“She gave birth before our car went over the ravine.”
“And then became engaged to me.”
“She wanted access to the trust.”
Diego turned away, fighting the instinct to destroy everything within reach.
“Does Sebastián know?”
“He arranged it.”
“Where is Lucía?”
“I believed she was living in Switzerland under another name. Then Esteban found evidence the school records were false.”
Gabriel examined the papers.
“Why would Paulina hide her own daughter?”
“Because Lucía cannot inherit now,” Tomás said. “Valentina can.”
Diego faced him again.
“Then Valentina replaced her.”
“Yes.”
“And Paulina needs Valentina gone before her tenth birthday.”
“Or under her control.”
Diego thought of Paulina demanding the child be removed.
Of the fire in the vault.
Of the deleted recordings.
“Why was the golden button important?”
Tomás looked surprised.
“What button?”
“The one from my coat in San Aurelio.”
Tomás’s expression became wary.
“Rafael used six original buttons from his father’s ceremonial coat as physical keys.”
“Keys to what?”
“Private deposit boxes connected to the trust. Each contains part of the evidence required to identify an heir.”
“Marisol has one.”
“Then that is why Esteban brought her here.”
“Where are the others?”
“One was buried with Rafael. One belonged to me. One was given to Sebastián. The remaining two disappeared.”
Diego looked at Tomás’s empty hands.
“What happened to yours?”
“I gave it to Lucía.”
Gabriel’s phone vibrated.
He checked the message.
“The laboratory called.”
Diego’s entire body tightened.
“The results?”
“All three tests match.”
He looked directly at Diego.
“Valentina is your biological daughter.”
Diego closed his eyes.
For one moment, all danger disappeared.
There was only a little girl with a damaged rabbit, his mother’s eyes, and nine birthdays he had missed.
Then Gabriel continued.
“There is something else. One lab found a second DNA profile attached to Valentina’s original hospital record.”
“What profile?”
“A sibling match.”
Diego frowned.
“She has no sibling.”
Tomás stared at him.
“Not through Marisol.”
May you like
Gabriel turned the screen toward them.
“The match is maternal.”
