Chapter 2 - Three Weeks Earlier
Three weeks before Alejandro found the bruises beneath the blanket, Valeria believed the most difficult part of her pregnancy would be choosing a name.
She and Alejandro had spent an entire Sunday morning in bed, passing a notebook between them while rain moved across the city windows.
“Mateo,” Alejandro suggested.
“You have three cousins named Mateo.”
“Excellent name, then.”
“Our child deserves an identity.”
“He will be the best Mateo.”
“What makes you think the baby is a boy?”
Alejandro placed his hand on her belly with exaggerated seriousness.
“Father’s intuition.”
Valeria laughed when the baby kicked directly beneath his palm.
“That was our daughter rejecting your intuition.”
Alejandro leaned down and spoke to her belly.
“Your mother is already turning you against me.”
For a few precious hours, the world outside their bedroom did not exist.
Then the private elevator chimed.
Doña Esther entered the penthouse without waiting to be invited.
She carried herself with the confidence of someone who had never encountered a closed door she could not open. Her navy suit was immaculate, her silver jewelry understated and expensive.
She looked at the notebook on the bed.
“Names already?”
Alejandro smiled.
“We are debating.”
“You should wait until the medical reports are complete.”
The warmth disappeared from Valeria’s face.
“What reports?”
Esther removed her gloves one finger at a time.
“The extended genetic screening.”
“My doctor said everything looked normal,” Valeria replied.
“There are tests normal doctors do, and there are tests families like ours require.”
Alejandro sat up.
“Mother, we have discussed this. Valeria’s medical care is private.”
“And the future heir of Aranda Holdings is a family concern.”
“Our child is not a corporate asset.”
Esther’s expression barely changed.
“You can afford that opinion because I spent my life protecting what you inherited.”
Alejandro started to answer, but Valeria touched his wrist.
She had learned that open conflict with Esther never ended quickly. It moved through lawyers, family members, foundation committees, and society dinners until everyone was exhausted.
“We appreciate your concern,” Valeria said. “But Alejandro and I will follow our doctor’s advice.”
Esther studied her.
“Of course.”
Her smile was polite enough to make the threat beneath it almost invisible.
A week later, Alejandro left for Madrid to negotiate an acquisition. The trip was supposed to last four days.
On the second morning, Valeria received a call from the Aranda family clinic.
The receptionist informed her that a car would arrive at ten for a routine blood examination requested by her obstetrician.
Valeria almost refused. Then the receptionist mentioned the doctor’s name correctly and recited details from her most recent appointment.
At the clinic, a nurse took several vials of blood and asked Valeria to sign a digital consent form.
“What exactly is this for?” Valeria asked.
“Standard prenatal screening.”
“Can I have a copy?”
“It will appear in your patient portal.”
It never did.
When Alejandro returned from Madrid, he was exhausted and distracted by the acquisition. Valeria considered telling him about the unusual appointment, but Esther arrived for dinner before she could.
Throughout the meal, Esther watched her with unsettling attention.
Alejandro’s father, Rafael, spoke mostly about the company’s upcoming centennial celebration. He was a gentle man in private, but around Esther he seemed to shrink into silence.
After dinner, Alejandro took a business call on the terrace.
Esther found Valeria alone in the kitchen.
“You went to the clinic,” she said.
Valeria turned from the sink.
“You arranged it.”
“I ensured the family would have certainty.”
“Certainty about what?”
Esther took an envelope from her handbag.
Inside was a laboratory report.
Valeria read the first page twice.
Then a third time.
The report claimed prenatal DNA markers had been compared against a stored sample belonging to Alejandro. The stated conclusion was that the probability of paternity was effectively zero.
Valeria felt the room tilt.
“This is impossible.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“Then perhaps you should explain why the science disagrees.”
Valeria dropped the report onto the counter.
“This is fake.”
Esther’s eyes sharpened.
“Be careful.”
“I have never been with anyone else.”
“I have heard that sentence from women with far less to lose.”
Valeria reached for her phone.
“I’m calling Alejandro.”
Esther placed one hand over it.
“Do that, and this report goes to the board before he returns to the table.”
“You cannot threaten me.”
“I am explaining consequences.”
“What do you want?”
“For now, I want you to consider what public humiliation will do to my son. To his company. To your child.”
“Our child.”
Esther’s mouth curved into a cold smile.
“That is precisely what remains to be proven.”
Alejandro returned before the argument could continue.
Esther placed the report back into her bag and transformed instantly into the gracious family matriarch.
Valeria watched her kiss Alejandro’s cheek.
For the first time since joining the Aranda family, she understood how Esther had survived at the center of power for so long.
She did not merely lie.
She constructed realities and forced everyone around her to live inside them.
That night, Valeria lay awake beside her husband.
She wanted to wake him and tell him everything.
But every time she tried, she remembered Esther’s promise to send the report to the board. Alejandro had spent months securing the Madrid acquisition. A scandal could collapse the deal and cost thousands of employees their jobs.
Valeria knew that was exactly why Esther had chosen that moment.
She placed Alejandro’s hand over her belly while he slept.
The baby moved.
Valeria closed her eyes.
May you like
The report was false. She knew it with complete certainty.
What she did not know was how far Esther would go to make everyone else believe it.
