Chapter 14 - Fire in the Archive
The Aranda corporate archive occupied the lower floors of an old building in Santa Fe.
By the time Alejandro arrived, smoke was pouring from a side entrance.
Fire crews surrounded the building.
Employees stood outside.
Rafael met him near the barricade.
"It started in the records room."
"Esther?"
"We have footage of someone matching her description entering twenty minutes before the fire."
"Did she leave?"
"Not on the main cameras."
Alejandro moved toward the entrance.
Rafael blocked him.
"You are not going in there."
"My father's records are inside."
"Firefighters are handling it."
"Rafael."
"No."
For the first time in twenty years, his security chief refused an order.
"Your wife is in a hospital."
"Your son may be born early."
"Your mother may be trying to destroy evidence."
"None of that requires you to die in a burning building."
Alejandro stopped.
He hated the logic.
But Rafael was right.
Minutes later, firefighters emerged carrying a woman.
It was not Esther.
It was Marcela.
Alejandro ran toward her.
Her face was covered in soot.
She coughed violently.
"What were you doing in there?"
Marcela grabbed his arm.
"Mother called me."
"What?"
"She told me to meet her."
"She said she would explain everything."
"Did she start the fire?"
"I don't know."
"I got downstairs and smelled smoke."
"Then the doors locked."
Alejandro stared at her.
"Locked?"
Marcela's eyes filled with terror.
"She left me inside."
The words shattered whatever remained of Marcela's loyalty.
She began crying.
"She was going to let me die."
Alejandro knelt beside her.
"Did you see where she went?"
"No."
"But she asked me something before she disappeared."
"What?"
"She asked whether Valeria had delivered the baby yet."
Alejandro felt sick.
His phone rang.
Samuel.
He answered immediately.
"Alejandro."
Samuel's voice was urgent.
"You need to come back now."
The contractions had started again.
This time, medication was not stopping them.
Valeria was being prepared for an emergency procedure if the baby's heart rate deteriorated.
Alejandro reached the hospital as nurses were moving her into a higher-level maternity unit.
She grabbed his hand.
"I'm scared."
"So am I."
He did not lie.
Samuel looked at the monitor.
"We may have to deliver."
Valeria began crying.
"It's too early."
"I know."
Samuel's voice remained calm.
"But if the baby is safer outside than inside, we act."
Alejandro stayed beside her.
Minutes stretched into hours.
The contractions continued.
Then, slowly, the fetal heart rate stabilized.
Samuel decided to wait.
At 3:10 in the morning, Valeria finally slept.
Alejandro remained beside her.
Rafael entered quietly.
"We recovered something from the archive."
Alejandro looked up.
"What?"
"A fireproof document case."
Inside were copies of Eduardo's original trust.
Marcela had been telling the truth.
If Alejandro had a legally recognized biological child, the child would become the future beneficiary of a voting block worth billions.
Until then, Esther controlled significant influence through the family foundation.
The motive was now clear.
But Rafael had found something else.
"There's an amendment."
Alejandro read it.
His father had added a special clause one month before his death.
If Alejandro's spouse or child suffered deliberate harm from a family trustee, all authority held by that trustee would be permanently revoked.
Alejandro looked up.
"My father knew."
Rafael nodded.
"He didn't know exactly what Esther would do."
"But he knew enough to prepare for it."
Then Rafael handed him a photograph recovered from the document case.
Eduardo stood beside Lucia.
Between them was a baby.
Alejandro.
May you like
On the back, Eduardo had written one sentence.
For the day my son finally learns which family protected him and which one only claimed him.
