PART 3 — THE PERSON INSIDE MY FATHER’S EMPIRE
PART 3 — THE PERSON INSIDE MY FATHER’S EMPIRE
For several seconds...
Nobody spoke.
The accusation was too impossible.
Too painful.
Too close.
Someone inside Grupo Salazar.
Someone who had access to my baby's records.
Someone who knew where I was.
Someone who knew the truth about me.
My father stood completely still.
But I knew him.
I knew every expression on his face.
The anger.
The disbelief.
The fear.
This wasn't the face of a man who had found a stranger's betrayal.
This was the face of a man who had already thought of one name.
And hated himself for thinking it.
"Dad."
My voice trembled.
"Who?"
He didn't answer.
That silence hurt more than any confession.
Because my father was protecting someone.
Again.
Santiago noticed too.
"You know."
My father looked at him.
"Be quiet."
But Santiago smiled.
A small, bitter smile.
"You know who did it."
He stepped closer.
"Don't you?"
My father said nothing.
Santiago laughed.
"All these years, everyone thought the Rivas family was the problem."
He looked at me.
"But maybe the Salazars are just better at hiding monsters."
My father's eyes hardened.
"Do not speak about my family."
Santiago's expression changed.
"Then tell her."
A pause.
"Tell your daughter why her own people tried to take her child."
I wanted to scream.
I wanted someone to stop.
But nobody did.
Because everyone knew.
The truth was coming.
And once it came...
There was no putting it back.
Elena closed the file.
"We need to move Valeria and the baby to a secure location."
My father nodded.
"Immediately."
I looked at him.
"No."
Everyone turned.
My father frowned.
"No?"
I shook my head.
"I'm done being moved around like a secret."
His expression softened.
"Valeria..."
"No."
I touched my belly.
"My entire life, people have decided what I should know."
"What I should do."
"Who I should trust."
A tear fell.
"But nobody asked what I wanted."
The room became silent.
Because they knew.
I was right.
I looked at Santiago.
"You."
He looked surprised.
"Me?"
"You tell me."
His eyebrows tightened.
"Tell you what?"
"The truth."
I stepped closer.
"Why did you really marry me?"
His face changed.
For the first time...
He looked ashamed.
Not guilty.
Ashamed.
"I saw you at a charity event."
I remembered.
Two years earlier.
Before everything.
I was wearing a simple blue dress.
No security.
No family name.
Just me.
"You were laughing with children from the foundation."
He looked down.
"And you didn't know anyone was watching."
A pause.
"I thought you were different."
My heart hurt.
Because for one second...
I wanted to believe him.
Then he continued.
"Then I found out who you were."
And there it was.
The truth.
"I realized what our marriage could mean."
My eyes closed.
Of course.
"Money."
"Power."
"Access."
He nodded.
Quietly.
"Yes."
My father stepped forward.
"You used my daughter."
Santiago looked at him.
"You used everyone too."
That sentence hit.
Because it wasn't entirely false.
My father looked away.
And I saw something painful.
Regret.
"How much did you know?"
I asked.
Santiago hesitated.
"Not enough."
"Explain."
He swallowed.
"Beatriz knew more than me."
His mother immediately looked away.
"She told me your identity after we were already married."
I stared.
"After?"
He nodded.
"She wanted me to get control of your assets."
My hands went cold.
"But you didn't know about the baby?"
His face changed.
"No."
A pause.
"Not until later."
"Then why the custody papers?"
He looked at Beatriz.
And for the first time...
He looked angry at her.
"Because she told me you were planning to leave me and take everything."
I almost laughed.
"Everything?"
I looked around.
"All I wanted was a safe home."
Beatriz finally spoke.
Her calm mask was gone.
"Enough."
Everyone looked at her.
"You all act like I am the villain."
She laughed.
"I protected this family."
"No."
My voice surprised even me.
"You protected yourself."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You have no idea what I sacrificed."
I looked at her.
"You tried to take my child."
"And you tried to take my life."
The room went silent.
Then my father's phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His face changed.
"What?"
Everyone waited.
Finally he lowered the phone.
"The security team found something."
"What?"
He looked at me.
"The person who accessed the hospital records..."
A pause.
"Used your father's private authorization code."
My stomach dropped.
My father slowly looked at Elena.
Then at me.
"That code only belongs to three people."
My heart started racing.
"Who?"
My father didn't want to say it.
But he did.
"Me."
"Elena."
"And..."
He stopped.
I knew.
Before he finished.
Because the person who could destroy us all...
Was the last person anyone expected.
"My mother."
I froze.
"My mother is dead."
My father looked at me.
"I know."
"Then how?"
Nobody answered.
Elena opened her laptop.
She pulled up the authorization log.
The screen showed:
ACCESS GRANTED
User:
Lucia Salazar
My mother's name.
A woman who had been dead for fifteen years.
The room became colder.
Impossible.
A dead woman had accessed my baby's records.
A dead woman had changed my life.
A dead woman had a secret nobody knew.
My father whispered:
"That's not possible."
Then the security guard entered.
His face was pale.
"Mr. Salazar."
Everyone turned.
"What happened?"
He looked at me.
Then my father.
"We found the person who entered the hospital system."
Silence.
"Where?"
The guard swallowed.
"At the old Salazar estate."
My father's face changed.
The old estate.
The house where my mother died.
The place nobody had entered for years.
The guard continued:
"She was waiting for you."
A pause.
"And she said..."
My heart stopped.
"She said Valeria will come alone."
Nobody moved.
Because everyone understood.
The person who knew my mother...
May you like
The person using her identity...
Was waiting for me.
