Chapter 5 - The Night They Fled the Mansion
Mateo did not waste a second.
He checked Valeria’s pulse again.
Then he looked at Alejandro.
“We’re leaving now.”
Alejandro lifted Valeria carefully.
She tried to stand but nearly collapsed.
He caught her.
Esther stepped forward.
“I’ll call the family clinic.”
“No.”
Alejandro’s answer was immediate.
His mother froze.
“We are not going anywhere controlled by this family.”
“Alejandro, don’t be ridiculous.”
He looked at her with a hatred that frightened even him.
“You don’t get to decide where my wife goes anymore.”
Rafael walked toward them.
“I’m coming.”
Alejandro shook his head.
“No.”
“Son.”
“Stay here.”
Rafael’s face fell.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know if I can trust you.”
The words left Rafael motionless.
Alejandro carried Valeria toward the front door.
Mateo followed with his medical bag and the sealed tea cup.
Behind them, Esther called his name.
Alejandro did not turn around.
For the first time in his life, he walked out of an Aranda house while his mother ordered him to stay.
The hospital Mateo selected was forty minutes away.
It belonged to no Aranda company.
No family friend sat on its board.
No Aranda money had paid for a wing.
Alejandro sat in the back of Mateo’s SUV with Valeria’s head against his shoulder.
Every few minutes, she tightened her grip around his hand.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He looked at her.
“For what?”
“For not telling you sooner.”
He stared at her in disbelief.
“You don’t apologize to me.”
“I should have trusted you.”
“No.”
His voice broke.
“I should have given you a reason to.”
Valeria looked away.
Alejandro remembered the photograph.
He had stormed into her room holding it.
He had demanded to know who the man was.
He had accused her of lying.
He had said words he wished he could tear out of time.
“You humiliated me.”
“You made a fool of me.”
“Tell me how long it has been happening.”
Now he understood why she had looked at him with such devastation.
She had already been fighting for her life.
And he had made himself another person she needed to fear.
Alejandro pressed his forehead against her hand.
“I am so sorry.”
Valeria said nothing.
That hurt more than anger would have.
At the hospital, Mateo had already called ahead.
Valeria was taken directly to a private examination room.
Alejandro followed until a nurse stopped him.
“Give us five minutes.”
He stood in the hallway, covered in his wife’s tears and his own shame.
Mateo remained beside him.
“Will the baby survive?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Alejandro nodded once.
He looked toward the closed door.
“Did you really come to the mansion at midnight?”
“Yes.”
“How many times?”
“Three.”
“And you treated her there?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you force her to leave?”
“I tried.”
Alejandro looked at him.
Mateo sighed.
“She was afraid leaving suddenly would make your mother suspicious.”
“That sounds insane.”
“It sounded insane to me too.”
Mateo paused.
“Until somebody broke into my office.”
Alejandro turned.
“When?”
“Four days after I tested Valeria’s blood.”
“What did they take?”
“Her paper records.”
Alejandro’s eyes narrowed.
“Nothing else?”
“Nothing.”
That was not burglary.
That was evidence removal.
Mateo continued.
“After that, I stored everything digitally off-site.”
“Do you have copies?”
“Yes.”
Alejandro nodded.
“Good.”
Mateo studied him.
“You understand this is bigger than a family argument now.”
“I do.”
“Your mother has influence.”
“I know.”
“Police officers, judges, hospital administrators.”
“I know.”
“Then you also understand why Valeria was afraid.”
Alejandro looked through the narrow window in the treatment-room door.
His wife lay on the bed while a nurse adjusted a monitor.
“Yes.”
He swallowed.
“I understand now.”
His phone rang.
The caller was his head of security.
“We found the signal from your father’s old phone.”
“Where?”
“The central bus terminal.”
“Send people.”
“We already did.”
Alejandro waited.
The security chief hesitated.
“Sir, there’s another issue.”
“What?”
“One of the estate cameras recorded Mrs. Aranda entering the security office twenty minutes after you left.”
Alejandro’s expression hardened.
“What did she do?”
“We don’t know.”
“Why not?”
“The camera system went offline.”
Mateo heard the answer.
Alejandro asked, “All cameras?”
“Yes.”
“When did they come back?”
“They haven’t.”
Alejandro looked at Mateo.
“She’s destroying evidence.”
Before Mateo could answer, a nurse opened the treatment-room door.
“Mr. Aranda?”
Alejandro rushed toward her.
“How is she?”
“The fetal heartbeat is stable.”
His knees nearly gave way.
“And Valeria?”
“She’s stable too.”
Alejandro closed his eyes.
The nurse continued.
“But the doctor wants to keep her overnight.”
“That’s fine.”
“There is one more thing.”
Alejandro opened his eyes.
“The laboratory called about the sample Dr. Rivas brought from your home.”
“The tea?”
“Yes.”
Mateo stepped forward.
“That was fast.”
“The preliminary screen flagged a substance.”
Alejandro’s face went cold.
“What substance?”
The nurse looked between the two men.
“I can’t discuss interpretation without the physician.”
Mateo said, “Is it consistent with what was found in her blood?”
The nurse nodded.
“Yes.”
Alejandro stared down the hallway.
The last excuse protecting his mother had just disappeared.
Then his phone vibrated again.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
It contained only seven words.
YOUR MOTHER KNOWS WHERE THE NURSE IS.
Underneath was a photograph.
May you like
Teresa was standing beside a bus.
And behind her, barely visible in the reflection of a window, was Esther’s personal driver.
