Chapter 4 - THE MANSION IN THE STORMCamila Robles entered the maternity unit wearing the same cream suit from the night before.
Only now, one sleeve was torn.
There was blood near her collar.
Elias reached her first.
“Are you hurt?”
“It isn’t mine.”
The answer silenced everyone.
Camila looked past him and saw me in the hospital bed.
For once, no contempt appeared in her face.
Only fear.
“Where is Sofia?” she asked.
“Safe,” Elias replied.
“You need to move her.”
“Why?”
“Rodrigo knows about the prenatal declaration.”
“We haven’t signed it.”
“He believes you will.”
“How does he know?”
Camila looked toward Mateo.
“There is someone inside your security team.”
Mateo’s expression hardened.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Rodrigo told me.”
Elias guided his mother into the room and shut the door.
“What happened at the house?”
Camila’s hands began to shake.
“He returned after you left. He wanted the original trust documents.”
“Why would they be at the mansion?”
“Your father kept copies in his private safe.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I didn’t know the combination.”
“Was that true?”
“No.”
Elias’s jaw tightened.
“Mother.”
“I refused to open it. Rodrigo became angry. He struck one of the housekeepers when she tried to call security.”
“Whose blood is on you?”
“Teresa’s. She fell against the desk.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes. I called an ambulance after Rodrigo left.”
“What was in the safe?”
Camila looked at me.
“Letters your father wrote before his death. Financial records. A statement accusing Rodrigo of stealing from the company.”
“Why didn’t you give them to the police four years ago?”
“Because he was my son.”
“So was I.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I had already lost your father. You had disappeared into grief. I told myself I could correct Rodrigo quietly.”
“You helped him.”
“I signed documents because he promised the money would be returned.”
“Was it?”
“No.”
“How much has he stolen?”
“More than four hundred million pesos.”
Even Mateo looked shocked.
Camila sat heavily in the chair.
“The audit will expose everything. The shell companies. The bribes. The false construction contracts.”
“And the clinic?” I asked.
She looked at me.
“I purchased the clinic through the family foundation years ago. It was supposed to provide private medical services for employees.”
“Rodrigo used it to obtain my records.”
“Yes.”
“You gave him access?”
“I told him where you had been examined.”
Elias stepped between us, perhaps afraid I would climb from the bed and strike her.
He did not need to worry.
My anger had become too cold for violence.
“You told a man stealing hundreds of millions of pesos where a pregnant woman kept her medical records,” I said.
“I did not know he would—”
“You didn’t want to know.”
She flinched.
“You wanted me erased without having to see the eraser.”
“I was trying to protect my family.”
“Your family includes the man who tried to force medication into my body.”
“I never authorized that.”
“But you created the conditions that made him believe he could.”
Camila lowered her eyes.
For the first time, she looked old.
Not powerful.
Not elegant.
Simply old.
Elias turned to Mateo.
“Move my mother to a secured location.”
“No,” Camila said.
“You came here asking for protection.”
“I came to warn you.”
“Then let us protect you.”
“You still don’t understand.”
She stood and looked directly at me.
“Rodrigo does not need to stop the audit anymore.”
“What does he need?” I asked.
“To control the person who inherits.”
The meaning arrived slowly.
“He wants Sofia,” Elias said.
Camila nodded.
“If something happens to you, Elias, Sofia’s legal guardian controls her interest until she is an adult.”
“I named Mateo as temporary guardian.”
“You changed the documents?”
“After Mariana died.”
Camila looked relieved for only a moment.
“Rodrigo may not know that.”
A terrible thought entered my mind.
“Where is Sofia now?”
“Protected pediatric suite,” Elias said.
“Call them.”
He did.
No answer.
Mateo called one of his officers.
No answer.
We moved at the same time.
Elias ran into the corridor. Mateo followed. I tore the monitors from my abdomen and climbed out of bed.
Camila grabbed my arm.
“You cannot go.”
“That child asked me not to leave her.”
“You are pregnant.”
“And she is alone.”
I pulled on my coat over the hospital gown.
By the time we reached the pediatric suite, two security officers were unconscious in the hallway. One had been injected with a sedative. The other had a head wound.
Sofia’s room was empty.
Her blanket lay on the floor.
Her stuffed rabbit was missing.
Elias stood in the center of the room as though his body had forgotten how to breathe.
On the bed was a phone.
It rang.
Elias answered on speaker.
Rodrigo’s voice filled the room.
“Now you understand what leverage feels like.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“If you touch her—”
“You’ll do what? Call the police? Give them the files? Trigger the audit?”
Elias gripped the phone so tightly his knuckles whitened.
“What do you want?”
“The original trust documents and every copy of Father’s accusations.”
“You already searched the mansion.”
“I didn’t have time to open the safe.”
“I don’t have the combination.”
“Mother does.”
Camila closed her eyes.
Rodrigo continued. “Come to the house. Bring Mother. Bring the doctor.”
“No,” Elias said.
“Then you won’t see Sofia again.”
My blood ran cold.
“Why do you need me?” I asked.
There was a pause.
Then Rodrigo laughed softly.
“Because you are the reason everyone suddenly developed a conscience.”
The call ended.
Elias immediately contacted the police, but Rodrigo had chosen the location carefully. The Robles mansion sat behind private gates on a large property outside the center of the city. A storm had begun moving across the valley, flooding several nearby roads.
The police wanted us to wait.
Elias refused.
So did I.
“You are not coming,” he told me.
“I am.”
“Valeria, he tried to end your pregnancy last night.”
“And now he has Sofia.”
“You could go into labor.”
“I could go into labor sitting here while you disappear again.”
The words struck him.
“I’m not disappearing.”
“Then don’t ask me to stay behind without information.”
Mateo equipped Elias with a concealed transmitter. Camila gave the police the gate codes. I changed into scrubs and accepted a protective vest that barely closed around my belly.
The storm broke as we drove.
Rain hammered the windshield. Lightning flashed over the mountains. The city lights disappeared behind us as the road climbed toward the estate.
No one spoke until Camila said, “I told Rodrigo about the baby because I thought Elias would pay you to leave.”
I stared through the window.
“That apology needs work.”
“I am not apologizing.”
“Of course not.”
“I am explaining.”
“People like you always believe explanations are more valuable than apologies.”
She looked at me.
“I believed you wanted his money.”
“I wanted him to answer a question.”
“What question?”
“Whether he loved me enough to choose a life that was not approved by you.”
Camila looked toward her son.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing,” Elias answered.
For the first time, she seemed ashamed of him.
Good.
The mansion gates stood open when we arrived.
That frightened me more than armed guards would have.
Inside, the house was dark except for lights in the main hall.
Rodrigo waited near the staircase.
Sofia sat on a chair beside him, clutching her stuffed rabbit. She was not tied, but a guard stood behind her.
“Daddy!” she cried.
Elias moved forward.
Rodrigo raised a gun.
“Stop.”
Elias stopped.
My medical training allowed me to assess Sofia quickly. No visible bleeding. No obvious injury. Her pupils looked normal. She was frightened but alert.
“Let her come to me,” I said.
Rodrigo smiled.
“The doctor who never learned when to leave.”
“She has nothing to do with the trust.”
“She has everything to do with it.”
Camila stepped forward.
“You have lost your mind.”
“No, Mother. I finally stopped pretending this family rewards loyalty.”
“I protected you for years.”
“You protected the family name. There is a difference.”
“You stole from your father.”
“I took what Elias abandoned.”
Elias’s voice remained controlled.
“Sofia is a child.”
“She is an heir.”
“She is your niece.”
“She is leverage.”
Sofia began to cry.
I moved one careful step closer.
Rodrigo pointed the gun at me.
“Not you.”
“Then point it at someone who is actually threatening you.”
“You are threatening me.”
“My daughter is not responsible for your crimes.”
“Your daughter activates the audit.”
“The audit already started.”
It was a lie.
Rodrigo’s smile disappeared.
Elias looked at me but said nothing.
“I signed the prenatal declaration electronically before we left the hospital,” I continued.
Another lie.
“You’re bluffing.”
“Kill me and the audit continues. Kill Elias and it continues. Hurt Sofia and you add kidnapping to financial crimes.”
Rodrigo’s confidence flickered.
I stepped closer.
“You have no leverage left.”
He turned the gun toward Elias.
“You think she’s brave?”
“She is.”
“She’s reckless.”
“She came for my daughter.”
“Your daughters are the reason you’ll lose everything.”
“No,” Elias said. “You are.”
The police listening through the transmitter needed a confession or an immediate threat. Rodrigo had already provided both, but the storm had delayed them outside the gates.
We needed time.
Camila walked toward the old study.
“The papers are in the safe.”
Rodrigo looked at her.
“Open it.”
“Let Sofia go first.”
“No.”
“You need me alive.”
“I need the combination.”
“Which you will never receive if you shoot anyone.”
Rodrigo motioned for the guard to follow.
We entered the study.
The safe was hidden behind a portrait of Elias’s father. Camila placed her hand on the dial but did not turn it.
“Before I open this,” she said, “tell me something.”
Rodrigo laughed.
“You’re negotiating now?”
“Did you kill your father?”
The room went silent.
Elias stared at his mother.
“What are you talking about?”
Camila kept her eyes on Rodrigo.
“Your father discovered the shell companies three weeks before his heart attack. He planned to remove you from the trust.”
Rodrigo’s face became unreadable.
“He had a heart condition.”
“Yes.”
“And poor timing.”
Elias stepped forward.
Rodrigo raised the gun.
“Did you kill him?” Elias demanded.
“You were too busy mourning your wife to notice anything happening around you.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“Father took medication every night. Sometimes medications interact badly.”
Camila made a broken sound.
“You changed his pills.”
“I solved a problem.”
The confession seemed to drain the air from the room.
Elias looked like he might attack him.
I caught his arm.
“Stay with Sofia,” I whispered.
The words reached him.
He remained still.
A faint electronic sound came from near Sofia.
Rodrigo turned.
“What was that?”
Sofia froze.
I saw a small light beneath the sleeve of her hospital pajamas.
Her smartwatch.
The device had an emergency recording function. Elias must have taught her to activate it.
Rodrigo moved toward her.
Elias blocked him.
The guard grabbed Elias from behind.
Everything happened at once.
Camila swung the heavy safe handle into the guard’s face.
Elias tackled Rodrigo.
The gun fired.
The sound shattered the windows.
I covered Sofia with my body.
A burning pain crossed my side, but when I looked down, there was no blood. The bullet had struck the wall.
Rodrigo pushed Elias away and aimed again.
Camila stepped between them.
“You will not kill another member of this family.”
Rodrigo stared at her.
“You chose him.”
“I should have chosen the truth years ago.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Rodrigo fired toward the window and ran through a side door.
The guard tried to follow, but Mateo entered with two police officers and forced him to the ground.
Elias ran to Sofia.
She threw herself into his arms.
“I recorded him,” she sobbed. “I recorded everything.”
“You were so brave.”
“I was scared.”
“Being brave means you were scared and did it anyway.”
I tried to stand.
A powerful contraction stopped me.
This one did not fade.
Warm fluid ran down my legs.
Elias saw my face.
“What happened?”
“My water broke.”
His expression became pure panic.
“How early?”
“Thirty-one weeks.”
Another contraction came.
Harder.
Faster.
Rain continued pounding the mansion. The main road had flooded, and the ambulance could not reach the front entrance.
Elias lifted me into his arms.
“Tell me what to do.”
“We need the hospital.”
“The road is blocked.”
“Then find another road.”
“There’s a service route through the back property,” Camila said. “It connects to the highway.”
Mateo took the keys to an armored SUV.
Elias carried me through the storm, holding me against his chest while rain soaked both of us.
Sofia ran beside him, clutching my hand.
We had recovered her.
We had Rodrigo’s confession.
We had survived the mansion.
But as another contraction tore through me, I realized the most dangerous part of the night had only begun.
May you like
My daughter was coming too soon.
And this time, no amount of money, influence, or power could guarantee that Elias would not lose another person he loved.
