CHAPTER 12 — THE TRUTH ABOUT ALEJANDRO

The image disappeared.

But nobody moved.

Because the last thing they saw was impossible.

A child.

A child who looked like Mateo.

The same eyes.

The same expression.

The same calmness.

Sofía was the first to speak.

“Who was that?”

Nobody answered.

Because Nicolás was staring at Alejandro.

Not at the screen.

At his brother.

Alejandro noticed.

“What?”

Nicolás's face was pale.

“That child…”

A pause.

“Why does he look like Mateo?”

Alejandro said nothing.

And that silence was more frightening than any answer.

The Velasco mansion had survived the explosion.

Barely.

The east wing was destroyed.

The hidden laboratory was gone.

But the secrets had escaped.

Just like the people who created them.

Nicolás moved everyone into the main hall.

No one left.

No one was trusted.

Not anymore.

The family that once ruled through power now sat together surrounded by fear.

Sofía held Mateo.

Valeria sat beside her.

Leonor looked older than ever.

And Alejandro stood alone.

Like a man waiting for judgment.

“Nobody leaves until we know the truth.”

Nicolás's voice was cold.

Not angry.

Worse.

Controlled.

“Alejandro.”

His brother looked up.

“I need you to tell us everything.”

Alejandro looked at Mateo.

Then closed his eyes.

“I don't know where to begin.”

Sofía answered:

“Begin with the child.”

Alejandro was silent for a long time.

Then he spoke.

“When I disappeared twelve years ago…”

Everyone listened.

“I was not taken because I knew too much.”

A pause.

“I was taken because I was the first success.”

Sofía frowned.

“We know that.”

“No.”

Alejandro looked at her.

“You know the version Rafael wanted you to know.”

He looked at Nicolás.

“The truth is worse.”

When Alejandro was a child, Esteban Velasco did not see him as a son.

He saw him as a possibility.

A test.

A question.

Could a person be shaped before they understood who they were?

Alejandro was different from Nicolás.

Nicolás adapted.

He became stronger.

Colder.

More controlled.

But Alejandro resisted.

He questioned.

He felt.

He cared.

And that made him dangerous.

“Your father hated that.”

Alejandro looked at Nicolás.

“He believed emotion was a defect.”

Nicolás remained silent.

“Then why did he keep Alejandro?”

Sofía asked.

Alejandro answered:

“Because I was useful.”

The old records revealed something unexpected.

Alejandro was not only a subject.

He was an observer.

Esteban used him to study Nicolás.

The two brothers were compared.

One exposed to pressure.

One exposed to freedom.

One forced to survive.

One encouraged to feel.

The experiment was not about creating one perfect child.

It was about creating two opposite outcomes.

Then choosing which one was better.

Nicolás stared.

“So our entire childhood…”

“Yes.”

Alejandro's voice was quiet.

“Was a competition.”

But Rafael changed everything.

When Esteban died, Rafael inherited the Genesis Project.

And unlike Esteban…

Rafael did not see Alejandro as a failure.

He saw him as the missing piece.

“Rafael believed you were proof.”

Nicolás looked at Alejandro.

“Proof of what?”

“That someone created through pain could still choose compassion.”

Nobody expected that answer.

Alejandro continued.

“He needed me alive because I was the only person who could prove his theory.”

Sofía frowned.

“Then why hide you?”

“Because the experiment required isolation.”

A pause.

“If the world believed I was dead, nobody would search.”

Then came the part Alejandro had avoided.

The part that made his voice change.

“Diego.”

Sofía became still.

Alejandro looked at her.

“I found him.”

Her heart stopped.

“When?”

“Twelve years ago.”

The room became silent.

“I found him inside the Genesis facility.”

Sofía stepped forward.

“You saw my brother?”

“Yes.”

“Alive?”

Alejandro closed his eyes.

“Yes.”

The word destroyed her.

Because she had spent twelve years mourning a lie.

“What happened?”

Alejandro looked away.

“He was different.”

“Different how?”

“He wasn't broken.”

Sofía didn't understand.

“He knew what was happening.”

A pause.

“He understood more than any of us.”

Alejandro explained.

Diego had discovered the pattern.

He knew he was being watched.

He knew he was part of something bigger.

But instead of becoming afraid…

he started collecting information.

Drawings.

Notes.

Names.

Everything.

“He was trying to expose them.”

Sofía's eyes filled.

“My brother…”

“He was brave.”

Alejandro looked at her.

“Braver than any adult in that place.”

A tear fell down her face.

“Then why did he die?”

Alejandro hesitated.

And that hesitation hurt more than the answer.

“Because someone betrayed him.”

Everyone looked at Leonor.

But Alejandro shook his head.

“Not her.”

The room changed.

“Then who?”

Alejandro looked at Nicolás.

“Nicolás.”

The silence was immediate.

Nicolás stepped back.

“What?”

“You were there.”

“I told you, I don't remember.”

“I know.”

Alejandro's voice softened.

“Because they made you forget.”

Sofía stared.

“Then what happened?”

Alejandro looked at his brother.

“The night Diego disappeared, Nicolás found the files.”

A pause.

“He tried to stop Genesis.”

Nicolás listened.

“He threatened to expose Esteban's work.”

“Then why did Diego die?”

Alejandro answered:

“Because Esteban had already prepared for that.”

The truth was devastating.

Nicolás had tried to save Diego.

But he failed.

Because he was also a victim.

Esteban had manipulated him.

Used his anger.

Used his loyalty.

Used his desire to protect his family.

Then after the confrontation…

Nicolás suffered an accident.

The memory loss was not accidental.

Someone erased the evidence.

Someone erased his memories.

Someone made him believe he had done nothing.

Sofía looked at Nicolás.

For the first time, she saw something different.

Not a powerful man.

Not an empire.

A child who had been used.

Just like everyone else.

“I thought you were part of it.”

Nicolás looked at her.

“I know.”

“But you were fighting it.”

He nodded.

“I just don't remember winning.”

Then Alejandro revealed the final secret.

The child in Elena Salazar's video.

“The child is not Mateo.”

Everyone froze.

“What?”

Alejandro continued.

“Rafael created copies of the files.”

Sofía looked confused.

“The child looked like Mateo because…”

A pause.

“He was created from the same genetic profile.”

Valeria held Mateo tighter.

“So who is he?”

Alejandro looked at the destroyed east wing.

“The final subject.”

Nicolás frowned.

“Who?”

Alejandro answered:

“Someone created from all three experiments.”

Alejandro.

Diego.

Nicolás.

The room went silent.

A child created from the past.

A child who carried their history.

Their suffering.

Their blood.

Suddenly, the security system activated.

A message appeared.

A live video.

Elena Salazar.

She was standing in a medical facility.

Behind her was the child.

Older than Mateo.

Calm.

Watching.

“You finally understand.”

Elena smiled.

Nicolás stepped toward the screen.

“Where is my son?”

Elena laughed softly.

“Your son?”

A pause.

“You still don't understand.”

She looked at Mateo.

Then at the child beside her.

“The final experiment was never about creating a perfect child.”

The screen zoomed in.

The child smiled.

“It was about creating a family.”

The image froze.

Then Elena said one final sentence:

“Because Mateo has a brother.”

Everyone stopped breathing.

Sofía looked down at Mateo.

And Nicolás understood.

May you like

The Socialite Dragged Me Across the Hotel Floor—Never Knowing I Was the...

My Mom Humiliated My Wife on Our Son’s First Birthday—Then I Walked Thro...

My Husband Slapped Me Twice in Front of His Mistress—Then I Told Him My...

The nightmare was not over.

It had only changed shape.