PART 5 — MY FATHER’S HIDDEN DEAL
PART 5 — MY FATHER’S HIDDEN DEAL
The room went silent.
Not one person moved.
Not one person breathed.
Because the accusation wasn't aimed at a stranger.
It wasn't aimed at Santiago.
It wasn't aimed at Beatriz.
It was aimed at my father.
The man who came to save me.
The man I spent years believing was the one person who would never betray me.
My father.
I looked at him.
Waiting.
Begging.
Almost hoping he would laugh.
That he would say it was impossible.
That my mother was lying.
But he didn't.
He just stood there.
Frozen.
And that silence destroyed me.
"Dad."
My voice broke.
"Tell me she's wrong."
His eyes closed.
Only for a second.
But it was enough.
Because I saw it.
Regret.
The same regret I had seen before.
The regret of someone who knew a truth he had hidden for too long.
My mother looked at him.
"Tell her, Ricardo."
My father's jaw tightened.
"Lucia."
"No."
Her voice became stronger.
"Not this time."
She looked at me.
"Your father needs to tell you what happened."
I felt my hands shaking.
My baby moved.
I placed a hand over my stomach.
Trying to remind myself.
Stay calm.
Stay strong.
My father finally spoke.
Quietly.
"I made a mistake."
A laugh escaped me.
A broken laugh.
"A mistake?"
I stared at him.
"You arranged my marriage."
A pause.
"You let a man hurt me."
Another pause.
"And you call that a mistake?"
His face broke.
"I didn't know he would become this."
Santiago looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
My father ignored him.
His eyes stayed on me.
"I knew the Rivas family."
"Of course you did."
My voice was cold.
"You all knew each other."
He nodded.
"Years ago, our companies worked together."
A pause.
"But after your mother discovered what Beatriz was doing..."
He looked at her.
"Everything changed."
Beatriz stepped forward.
"You have no proof."
My mother laughed softly.
"You still say that after fifteen years?"
Beatriz's expression hardened.
"You disappeared because you were weak."
My mother's face changed.
"No."
A pause.
"I disappeared because I was protecting my daughter."
My father continued.
"After your mother found the documents..."
I interrupted.
"What documents?"
He looked down.
"The original agreement."
I frowned.
"Between the families?"
He nodded.
"The Rivas and Salazar families created a business alliance decades ago."
A pause.
"And the agreement included inheritance."
I felt sick.
"Me."
He nodded.
"You."
Santiago suddenly laughed.
A bitter, empty sound.
"So that's why."
Everyone looked at him.
He looked at me.
"That's why your mother hated me."
"That's why your father watched me."
"That's why everyone knew more than me."
His expression changed.
"You were never a woman."
A pause.
"You were a contract."
Those words hurt.
Because they felt true.
My father immediately said:
"No."
But I looked at him.
"Was I?"
He couldn't answer.
And that was worse.
My mother walked closer.
"Your father believed he could control the situation."
She looked at him.
"He thought if you married Santiago, both families would be forced to cooperate."
My father shook his head.
"I was trying to stop a war."
My mother looked at him.
"And you created one."
Santiago stepped forward.
"And Beatriz?"
Everyone looked at him.
"Where does she fit into this?"
My mother's eyes became dark.
"She wanted everything."
Beatriz laughed.
"You blame me because I was smarter?"
Nobody spoke.
She continued.
"Your father wanted peace."
She pointed at my father.
"Your mother wanted justice."
She looked at me.
"And I wanted survival."
A pause.
"Because I knew what happens to people who stand against powerful families."
My father looked at Beatriz.
"You forged the papers."
She smiled.
"Yes."
Everyone froze.
Santiago stared.
"You admit it?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
She looked at him.
"You were weak."
A pause.
"And Valeria was easy to control."
My blood ran cold.
"You planned to take my baby."
Beatriz looked at me.
"Your child belongs to the families."
The room went silent.
I felt something inside me snap.
"No."
She tilted her head.
"What?"
"My baby."
I stepped forward.
"Does not belong to anyone."
A pause.
"Not the Salazars."
"Not the Rivas."
"Not you."
My voice shook.
"He is mine."
For the first time...
Beatriz looked uncertain.
Because she realized something.
The woman she thought she could break...
Was gone.
Then Elena suddenly received a message.
She looked at her phone.
Her face changed.
"What?"
My father asked.
She hesitated.
Then:
"The court filing was approved."
Everyone froze.
"What court filing?"
She looked at me.
"The emergency custody request."
My stomach dropped.
"But nobody filed anything."
Elena looked at the screen.
"It was filed this morning."
My father stepped forward.
"By whom?"
She swallowed.
"The request was submitted under your name."
My eyes widened.
"My name?"
She nodded.
Someone had used my identity.
Again.
Then Santiago's phone rang.
He looked at it.
His face turned pale.
"What?"
Everyone watched him.
A few seconds passed.
Then he slowly lowered the phone.
"What happened?"
He looked at me.
And for the first time...
I saw genuine fear.
"The hospital."
My heart stopped.
"What about the hospital?"
His voice shook.
"The baby records were changed."
My father immediately moved.
"What does that mean?"
Santiago looked at me.
"The system now shows..."
He swallowed.
"That you are not the legal mother of your own child."
The room froze.
I couldn't breathe.
"No."
Santiago continued.
"And the person who made the change..."
He looked at my father.
Then my mother.
Then Beatriz.
"The authorization came from someone who should not even exist."
Everyone stared.
"Your grandfather."
I froze.
My grandfather had been dead for twenty years.
Another dead person.
Another impossible signature.
Another lie.
My mother suddenly whispered:
"No."
My father looked at her.
"What?"
She stepped backward.
Terrified.
"That means..."
She looked at the hidden box.
At the old documents.
At me.
"The person controlling all of this..."
A pause.
"Has been alive the entire time."
The lights suddenly went out.
The entire mansion went dark.
Then my phone lit up.
One message.
Unknown number.
May you like
Five words:
I know where your baby is.
