Chapter 10 — The Man Everyone Thought Was Dead
The phone rang just after six o'clock the next morning.
Alejandro had been awake all night.
The files from Maria.
The photograph.
The Helix Biotech emblem.
None of it had left his mind.
He answered immediately.
"Mr. Santillán?"
The voice was unfamiliar.
Calm.
Measured.
Older.
"Yes."
A long silence followed.
Then the man spoke.
"My name is Gabriel Ortega."
Alejandro's heart stopped.
The room suddenly felt very small.
"You..."
"I know what Maria told you."
Alejandro stood so quickly that his chair fell backward.
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you over the phone."
"Why not?"
"Because someone is listening."
Alejandro froze.
"What do you mean?"
Gabriel lowered his voice.
"For fifteen years, I've stayed alive by assuming every conversation is monitored."
Alejandro glanced instinctively toward the windows.
The mansion suddenly didn't feel as safe as it had yesterday.
"You have proof?" he asked.
"I have everything."
"The laboratory reports."
"The original investigation."
"The names."
Alejandro closed his eyes.
"The names of who?"
Gabriel answered quietly.
"The people responsible for burying the truth."
Before Alejandro could ask another question—
The line suddenly went dead.
Not disconnected.
Cut.
He immediately called back.
The number no longer existed.
Across the city...
Inside a black SUV parked beneath an overpass...
Victor Salazar slowly removed his headset.
"He contacted him."
One of his associates nodded.
"We intercepted most of the call."
Victor stared through the windshield.
"Most?"
"The connection ended before we traced Gabriel's location."
Victor's jaw tightened.
"Fifteen years..."
he whispered.
"And he chooses today to come back."
Meanwhile...
Alejandro rushed into Alexander's office carrying his phone.
"He called."
Alexander immediately looked up.
"Who?"
"Gabriel."
Alexander stood.
"What did he say?"
Alejandro repeated every word.
Alexander listened without interrupting.
When he finished, the attorney remained silent.
Finally he spoke.
"He's scared."
Alejandro nodded.
"So am I."
An hour later...
A package arrived at the mansion.
No return address.
No postage.
Someone had delivered it by hand.
The security cameras showed only a person wearing a gray hood leaving it at the gate before disappearing.
Inside the package was an old cassette tape.
Nothing else.
No letter.
No explanation.
Only a handwritten label.
Interview — Isabella Santillán
Date:
April 17
Exactly eight days before she died.
Alejandro's hands shook as he placed the cassette into an old recorder Rosa found in storage.
Static filled the room.
Then...
A familiar voice.
Weak.
Fragile.
But unmistakable.
Isabella.
Alejandro covered his mouth.
It had been fifteen years since he'd heard her speak.
"Gabriel..."
she whispered on the recording.
"If anything happens..."
"I need you to promise me something."
A man's voice answered.
"I promise."
"No matter what."
Isabella coughed painfully.
"If Alejandro ever learns the truth..."
"Don't let him destroy himself trying to punish them."
Alejandro closed his eyes.
Even now...
She was thinking about protecting him.
The recording continued.
"I don't know if my illness happened naturally..."
she said quietly.
"But if it didn't..."
another cough interrupted her.
"...then promise me our daughters—"
She stopped.
The room fell completely silent.
Alejandro's eyes flew open.
"Our daughters?"
Alexander looked equally confused.
They exchanged stunned glances.
Their daughters?
There had only ever been one pregnancy.
The quadruplets had been born years after Isabella died through another relationship.
Had they heard correctly?
The tape crackled again.
Gabriel answered gently.
"Isabella..."
"You don't have daughters."
A faint laugh escaped her lips.
"I know."
"I meant..."
She paused.
"The daughters Alejandro will have someday."
"He'll be a wonderful father."
Tears streamed down Alejandro's face.
Even while dying...
Isabella had imagined a future she would never live to see.
A future where he found happiness again.
The tape reached its end.
Then...
Just before it stopped—
another voice entered the room.
Not Gabriel.
Not Isabella.
A man's voice.
Sharp.
Angry.
"Turn that recorder off."
Several loud footsteps followed.
Then the recording ended abruptly.
Alexander immediately rewound the final ten seconds.
Again.
Again.
Again.
On the fourth playback...
He noticed something.
"Listen."
They both leaned closer.
Beneath the footsteps...
A door opened.
Someone addressed the unknown man.
"Mr. Salazar..."
The room became silent.
Victor Salazar.
For the first time...
They had direct evidence connecting him to Isabella's final days.
That evening...
Victor received his own phone call.
His assistant spoke nervously.
"Sir..."
"They have the tape."
Victor remained expressionless.
"Confirmed?"
"Yes."
"And they heard your name."
A long silence followed.
Finally...
Victor slowly stood and walked toward the massive window overlooking the city.
"So..."
he murmured.
"It begins."
His assistant waited.
"What do we do?"
Victor picked up a leather folder locked with a brass clasp.
Inside were documents older than twenty years.
Photographs.
Contracts.
Medical records.
And one birth certificate.
He looked at the name printed across the top.
Then smiled for the first time in years.
"Alejandro thinks he's searching for the truth about his wife."
Victor quietly closed the folder.
"He has no idea..."
"...that the greatest secret Isabella ever kept wasn't about her death."
He looked out across the city lights.
"It was about a child."
And at that exact moment...
Miles away, Dr. Gabriel Ortega unlocked a safety deposit box that had remained unopened for fifteen years.
Inside was a single DNA report.
Across the top, in bold letters, were the names:
Alejandro Santillán
Infant — Confidential
Gabriel stared at the document before whispering,
"I'm sorry, Isabella..."
May you like
"The time has finally come."
To be continued…
