Chapter 7 - The Night Two Mothers Lied
Esther confessed before they even showed her the ledger.
She saw it in Alejandro's hand and whispered:
“Elena kept it.”
“You knew?”
“I hoped Victor destroyed it.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“What happened at Lake Hodges?”
Esther looked at him.
For the first time, she couldn't hold his gaze.
“Your mother was trying to expose Victor.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“Tell me.”
“Elena contacted me because she discovered Victor was alive.”
“Why you?”
“Because she thought Tomas was in danger.”
Alejandro frowned.
“My father?”
“Victor had been blackmailing him.”
Esther explained.
Victor had spent years stealing small amounts from Aranda-controlled accounts.
Tomas discovered it.
When he threatened to report Victor, Victor threatened to expose the original land fraud and destroy the company.
Elena wanted them to go to police together.
Esther refused.
“Why?”
Alejandro asked.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of losing money?”
“Of losing everything.”
Alejandro shook his head.
Esther's voice cracked.
“You were twenty-six. Camila was twenty-two. The company employed thousands of people. Every newspaper in the country would have called your father a criminal.”
“So you protected the lie.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“And my mother?”
Esther closed her eyes.
“She left angry.”
“Then what?”
“Victor followed her.”
Gabriel stopped breathing.
“You saw him?”
“Yes.”
“And you never told police?”
“No.”
Gabriel turned away.
His hands shook.
Alejandro touched his shoulder.
Gabriel shrugged him off.
“My mother died alone because all of you were protecting a company.”
“No,” Esther whispered.
Gabriel turned back.
“No?”
“She wasn't alone.”
The room froze.
Esther began crying.
“I followed them.”
Gabriel stared.
“I saw Victor's car force hers toward the barrier.”
Alejandro felt sick.
“You witnessed it?”
“Yes.”
“And said nothing for fourteen years?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel's face emptied.
He looked at Esther for a long time.
Then walked out.
Alejandro followed.
He found him outside beneath the hospital lights.
Gabriel leaned against the wall.
“I spent fourteen years thinking she fell asleep at the wheel.”
Alejandro didn't know what to say.
Gabriel laughed bitterly.
“Do you know what the last thing I said to her was?”
“No.”
“I was angry because she wouldn't lend me money.”
He looked down.
“I told her not to call me until she stopped treating me like a child.”
Alejandro stood beside him.
Neither spoke for a while.
Finally Alejandro said:
“You couldn't have known.”
Gabriel looked over.
“No.”
“But she did.”
They both looked through the glass toward Esther.
The investigation changed again.
Detective Bennett reopened Elena Mercer's death.
Victor was no longer merely wanted for attempted murder and conspiracy.
He was now a suspect in a fourteen-year-old homicide.
But Victor had one more move.
The next morning, every major newspaper received documents accusing Alejandro of financial fraud.
Aranda International stock collapsed within hours.
Board members called emergency meetings.
Banks froze pending transactions.
Reporters surrounded the hospital.
Victor was trying to destroy the company before the truth could destroy him.
Alejandro's executives begged him to return.
“Sir,” his CFO said over the phone, “if you don't appear at the board meeting, they may remove you.”
Alejandro looked at Valeria.
She was sleeping.
For years, nothing would have stopped him from attending that meeting.
Nothing.
He looked at the letter from his father.
Do not protect the Aranda name.
Protect the people the name has harmed.
“Let them remove me.”
The CFO went silent.
“Sir?”
“My wife stays here.”
He ended the call.
Valeria's eyes opened.
“You should go.”
“No.”
“You could lose the company.”
“Then I lose it.”
“Alejandro.”
He sat beside her.
“I almost lost you because everyone in my family kept choosing that company over people.”
He touched her hand.
“I won't make the same choice.”
Valeria smiled.
Then suddenly winced.
Alejandro stood.
“What?”
She grabbed her abdomen.
The monitor changed.
A nurse rushed in.
Then another.
Gabriel appeared seconds later.
“What is happening?”
Alejandro demanded.
Gabriel checked the monitor.
His face tightened.
“She's having contractions.”
Valeria stared at him.
“I'm only thirty-one weeks.”
“I know.”
Another contraction hit.
Gabriel looked at Alejandro.
“We may not be able to stop this.”
Alejandro took Valeria's hand.
“No.”
Gabriel's eyes were serious.
“Your daughter may be coming tonight.”
And outside the hospital, hidden among the reporters, Marcus Vale raised a phone to his ear.
“She is in labor,” he said.
May you like
Victor Salazar answered from somewhere nobody had yet found him.
“Then we are out of time.”
