Chapter 9 - The Father Alejandro Never Wanted
Alejandro laughed.
It was the only response his mind could produce.
“No.”
Esther reached for him.
He moved away.
“Don't touch me.”
“Alejandro—”
“Don't.”
Valeria watched from the bed, tears filling her eyes.
Gabriel stood frozen.
Camila whispered:
“Mom, tell him you're lying.”
Esther couldn't.
Alejandro looked at her.
“Victor Salazar is my father?”
“Biologically.”
“And Tomas knew?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When you were six months old.”
“And he raised me anyway.”
“He loved you.”
The sentence almost destroyed him.
Alejandro turned away.
Suddenly every memory of Tomas became sharper.
Teaching him to ride a bicycle.
Standing beside him at graduation.
Handing him his first office key.
Calling him son.
Blood had nothing to do with any of it.
Esther continued.
“I met Victor during a terrible period in my marriage. It happened once.”
“One time?”
“Yes.”
“Did Tomas believe that?”
“He eventually did.”
Alejandro turned back.
“Why didn't he leave?”
“Because he loved you.”
Esther's voice broke.
“He said a child doesn't choose how he enters a family.”
Gabriel lowered his head.
Alejandro closed his eyes.
Tomas Aranda had not been his biological father.
Yet somehow the revelation made Alejandro love him more.
Then another realization arrived.
“If Victor is my biological father…”
Gabriel finished.
“…then you're not my brother.”
They looked at each other.
A strange sadness passed between them.
After everything they had discovered, losing that connection hurt.
Then Rafael spoke from the doorway.
“Actually…”
Everyone turned.
Rafael looked exhausted.
“You still are.”
Alejandro stared.
“What?”
Rafael looked at Gabriel.
“Tomas wasn't your father either.”
Gabriel's face hardened.
“Enough.”
“Your mother told Tomas that because it protected you.”
“Protected me from whom?”
“Victor.”
Gabriel stopped.
Rafael continued.
“Elena became pregnant when she was nineteen.”
His voice lowered.
“The father was Victor.”
Nobody understood at first.
Then Valeria covered her mouth.
Gabriel stared at Rafael.
“No.”
Rafael's face filled with disgust.
“Victor wasn't Elena's biological brother.”
The truth emerged slowly.
Victor had been adopted by Elena's parents as a teenager after his own parents died.
They grew up calling each other brother and sister.
But as young adults, Victor became controlling.
Obsessive.
Elena tried to leave.
Gabriel was conceived during that abusive relationship.
She escaped while pregnant.
Years later, she told Tomas that Gabriel was his son because Tomas offered protection.
Tomas paid for Gabriel's education and allowed everyone—including Esther—to believe the lie.
Gabriel sat down.
“So Victor…”
Rafael nodded.
“Is your biological father too.”
Alejandro stared at Gabriel.
They were brothers after all.
Half brothers.
But through the man they both now hated.
Victor had known.
That explained the wall.
THE WRONG SON INHERITED EVERYTHING.
Victor believed Alejandro had received the life he deserved.
The Aranda name.
The fortune.
Tomas's love.
While Gabriel had received nothing.
And perhaps Victor believed both sons owed him.
Gabriel's face became cold.
“He's doing all of this because he thinks the company belongs to him.”
“Partly,” Bennett said.
“But men like Victor rarely have only one motive.”
The final motive arrived two hours later.
Police traced an encrypted account connected to Victor.
He had accumulated almost ninety million dollars overseas.
Money stolen from Aranda International.
The audit triggered by Alejandro's daughter would expose every transaction.
Victor wasn't fighting for inheritance.
He was fighting to stay out of prison.
Then Valeria suddenly called Alejandro's name.
He turned.
She was holding her stomach.
Not another contraction.
Something different.
Her eyes widened.
“My water broke.”
Gabriel moved instantly.
Nurses rushed in.
Alejandro took Valeria's hand.
“Is it happening?”
Gabriel checked her.
Then looked up.
“Yes.”
Thirty-one weeks and four days.
Too early.
But there was no stopping it now.
Valeria was rushed toward surgery.
Alejandro changed into sterile clothing and followed.
Before the doors closed, Detective Bennett grabbed his arm.
“We received a message.”
“From Victor?”
“Yes.”
“What does he want?”
Bennett showed him the phone.
One sentence.
CONGRATULATIONS, SON.
Alejandro stared.
Then another message appeared.
LET'S SEE IF SHE LIVES LONG ENOUGH TO INHERIT.
Alejandro looked toward the operating room.
For the first time, he understood Victor's real weapon.
Fear.
But this time Alejandro wasn't alone.
Gabriel stood on one side of Valeria.
Doctors surrounded her.
Police guarded every entrance.
And Valeria, terrified and exhausted, looked at her husband.
“Don't look at him.”
“What?”
“Victor.”
She squeezed Alejandro's hand.
“Look at me.”
So he did.
And as their daughter entered the world far too early, Alejandro Aranda stopped thinking about the man who had given him blood.
He thought about the man who had taught him what being a father meant.
Then a tiny cry filled the operating room.
May you like
Alejandro broke.
Their daughter was alive.
