Chapter 8 - THE MAID THEY UNDERESTIMATEDSmoke crawled across the stone floor like a living thing.
Ramiro pulled his jacket over his mouth. “Ventilation system. She’s flushing the tunnel.”
Alejandro grabbed Valeria’s arm. “We move now.”
But Valeria did not move.
She was staring at the shelves.
“Lucía risked her life to collect this,” she said. “If we leave it, Catalina wins.”
“We are not dying for paper.”
“No,” Valeria said. “But your wife did.”
Alejandro stopped.
The smoke thickened.
Ramiro coughed hard, eyes watering. “Boss!”
Valeria took the flash drive, the birth certificate, the custody petition, and the payment ledger. She stuffed them into the front of her uniform.
Then she noticed a small black case hidden behind Lucía’s box.
Inside was an old cell phone.
Lucía’s phone.
The screen was cracked, but when Valeria pressed the power button, the battery icon flashed red.
Alive.
Barely.
“Take it,” Alejandro said.
Ramiro and Alejandro pulled the emergency lever together. Metal screamed. The hidden door burst open.
They stumbled into another passage just as smoke flooded the chamber behind them.
The tunnel sloped upward.
At the end was a ladder leading to a trapdoor.
Ramiro climbed first.
He pushed the door open and froze.
“What is it?” Alejandro whispered.
Ramiro looked down.
“Kitchen.”
They emerged into the back pantry.
The mansion above was chaos.
Servants cried in clusters. Guards ran between halls. Someone had cut the main power but backup lights painted everything in red. From the foyer came the muffled sound of shouting.
Alejandro moved toward the noise.
Valeria caught his sleeve. “Wait.”
He turned.
She pointed to the old phone in her hand. “Lucía may have recorded something. We need power.”
Ramiro led them to the security office, now guarded by two men. Inside, Valeria found a universal charger in a drawer and connected the phone.
The screen flickered.
One percent.
Then two.
It asked for a passcode.
Alejandro tried Lucía’s birthday.
Denied.
Their anniversary.
Denied.
Mateo’s birthday.
Denied.
The phone warned: one attempt remaining.
Alejandro closed his eyes.
Valeria looked at the lock screen.
The wallpaper showed Lucía holding Mateo as a baby in the north garden. A white rosebush bloomed behind them.
Valeria remembered the keypad.
July 19.
Lucía’s birthday.
But this was different.
“What day did she tell you she was pregnant with Valentina?” Valeria asked.
Alejandro opened his eyes.
His voice was rough. “December 12.”
Valeria entered 1212.
The phone unlocked.
Alejandro stared at her.
“How did you know?”
“She would protect the child nobody knew about.”
The phone opened to videos.
The last file was dated three days after the attack.
Alejandro pressed play.
Lucía appeared on screen, pale and weak, lying in a hospital bed. Her dark hair stuck to her face. Her voice was thin but steady.
“Alejandro, if you are seeing this, Catalina got to me first.”
Alejandro’s face collapsed.
Valeria stepped back, giving him space, but he grabbed the edge of the desk like he might fall.
Lucía continued.
“Our daughter is alive. I named her Valentina because she fought harder than anyone expected. Catalina wants control of the foundation and the businesses. She has Dr. Ibarra. She has people in the house. Do not trust Socorro. She is afraid, but fear can be more dangerous than hatred.”
Alejandro covered his mouth.
Lucía’s eyes filled with tears.
“And Mateo saw enough to be in danger. If he stops speaking, don’t think he is empty. He is holding the truth because someone made him afraid to release it.”
Valeria’s tears fell silently.
“Find our children,” Lucía whispered. “Then become the man they deserve.”
The video ended.
For a long moment, there was only silence.
Then Alejandro did something no one expected.
He lowered his head.
And wept.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
But with the terrible quiet of a man finally understanding the full size of what had been stolen from him.
Valeria looked away.
Outside the office, footsteps approached.
Fast.
Ramiro raised his gun.
But it was not Catalina.
It was a young female guard carrying Mateo.
“He wouldn’t stay,” she said breathlessly.
Mateo struggled until Valeria knelt.
He ran into her arms.
“Papá,” he said.
Alejandro turned.
Mateo pointed toward the front gates.
May you like
“Red nails leaving.”
Catalina had escaped.
