CHAPTER 3 — THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

The door opening somewhere inside the mansion was the only sound anyone heard.

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Because everyone was waiting for Leonor Velasco to explain.

But the old woman remained silent.

Her face had changed.

The arrogance was gone.

The confidence she carried like armor for decades had cracked.

For the first time, she looked like someone carrying a secret too heavy to hold.

Nicolás stepped closer.

“What first child?”

Leonor looked at her son.

A mother looking at the child she had raised.

A child who had become a powerful man.

A man who could destroy her with one question.

“Nicolás…”

“No.”

His voice was quiet.

And somehow that was more frightening than shouting.

“You don't get to say my name like that and hide behind silence.”

Valeria looked between them.

“What is she talking about?”

Leonor lowered her eyes.

Sofía remained near Mateo.

She did not interfere.

Not yet.

She had learned something important.

Secrets had a way of destroying themselves when people were forced to speak.

“The first child was before you.”

Leonor finally whispered.

Nicolás frowned.

“What?”

“Before you and Alejandro.”

The room seemed to shrink.

Valeria looked confused.

“You had another child?”

Leonor looked at her.

“No.”

A pause.

“Not me.”

Everyone waited.

Then Leonor looked directly at Nicolás.

“Your father.”

The words landed like a stone.

Nicolás stared.

“My father had another child?”

Leonor nodded slowly.

“A son.”

Nobody spoke.

The Velasco family had always been built around blood.

Inheritance.

Legacy.

The idea that their name meant something.

And suddenly there was another person.

Someone erased.

Someone removed.

Someone forgotten.

“Where is he?” Nicolás asked.

Leonor closed her eyes.

“I don't know.”

“You don't know?”

His voice rose.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I know what I was told.”

“By who?”

Leonor did not answer.

Nicolás stepped closer.

“By who?”

Finally, she whispered:

“Your father.”

The meeting room was colder than the nursery.

Maybe because there were no memories there.

Only decisions.

Nicolás sat at the long table.

Sofía stood near the window.

Valeria sat beside him.

Leonor remained across from them.

For years, Nicolás had forced people to answer questions.

Now, for the first time, he was the one demanding answers from his own family.

“Start from the beginning.”

Leonor looked exhausted.

“Your father, Esteban Velasco, was not the man people believed.”

Nicolás almost laughed.

“No one in this family is.”

She ignored the comment.

“Before the empire became what it is today, your father made choices.”

“What choices?”

“Choices that created enemies.”

She looked at Mateo’s files on the table.

“And one of those choices involved a child.”

Sofía noticed something.

Leonor was not afraid of Nicolás.

She was afraid of remembering.

“What happened to the child?” Valeria asked.

Leonor's hands tightened.

“He was taken away.”

“By who?”

“I don't know.”

Sofía interrupted.

“Someone does.”

Everyone looked at her.

She pointed toward the nursery files.

“The person who installed those devices knew this family history.”

Nicolás understood.

The hidden wall.

The transmitter.

The message.

The mention of the first child.

This was not random revenge.

Someone was opening old wounds deliberately.

Someone wanted them to look backward.

“Why Mateo?” Nicolás asked.

Sofía looked at him.

“Because Mateo is your weakness.”

The answer hurt because it was true.

For years, Nicolás had believed he had no weaknesses.

Money.

Power.

Security.

Influence.

He had built a world where nobody could touch him.

Then Mateo was born.

And suddenly he was vulnerable.

Later that afternoon, Nicolás ordered a complete investigation into every person who had worked in the mansion.

Employees.

Security.

Contractors.

Doctors.

Anyone who had access.

Sofía watched the process.

“You trust no one.”

Nicolás looked at her.

“Should I?”

She did not answer.

Because after what happened, maybe he shouldn't.

But then she noticed something.

“You investigated me.”

It was not a question.

Nicolás did not deny it.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you appeared in my house at the exact moment my son's condition changed.”

Sofía nodded.

Fair.

“What did you find?”

His expression changed.

“That is the problem.”

“What?”

“Almost nothing.”

Sofía frowned.

“Almost?”

“You have no criminal record. No financial problems. No suspicious connections.”

A pause.

“But there is one thing.”

“What?”

Nicolás looked at the folder.

“You lied about why you came here.”

Sofía became still.

The room changed.

“What did you find?”

Nicolás opened the file.

Inside was a photograph.

A young girl.

Maybe eight years old.

Standing beside a hospital bed.

Sofía.

And a little boy.

Her younger brother.

The same boy she had mentioned.

Nicolás placed another document on top.

A medical report.

“Your brother's case.”

Sofía's face changed.

“You investigated that?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because his condition…”

He looked at her.

“…was almost identical to Mateo's.”

Silence.

Sofía took the file.

Her fingers trembled slightly.

She had spent years searching for answers.

But nobody had ever connected the two cases.

Nobody except Nicolás.

“You knew.”

The accusation was quiet.

Nicolás looked confused.

“Knew what?”

“That my brother was connected to your family.”

He said nothing.

That silence was enough.

Sofía stepped closer.

“You knew before I entered this room.”

“No.”

“You did.”

“Sofía—”

“Why did you hire me?”

The question hung between them.

Nicolás looked away.

Because the truth was complicated.

He had not chosen Sofía because of luck.

He had chosen her because someone had sent her name.

A name attached to a warning.

Three days before Mateo became worse.

A message had arrived at his private office.

No sender.

No signature.

Only one sentence.

Find the girl who lost her brother. She is the only one who can save your son.

Nicolás had never told anyone.

Not Valeria.

Not his security team.

Not Sofía.

Until now.

“I received a message.”

Sofía stared.

“What message?”

He told her.

Every word.

Her expression changed.

Because she understood something.

Someone had planned this.

Someone wanted her here.

Someone knew about Mateo.

Someone knew about her brother.

And someone knew about the past.

Before either of them could speak, Nicolás's phone rang.

He answered.

A few seconds passed.

Then his face became cold.

“What happened?”

He listened.

“Where?”

Another pause.

Then:

“Do not touch anything.”

He ended the call.

Valeria stood.

“What is it?”

Nicolás looked toward Sofía.

“The person who sent the message…”

His voice lowered.

“…was inside the mansion.”

Sofía felt a chill.

“Who?”

Nicolás looked at the security report.

The answer was written there.

A name.

A person who had worked in the Velasco mansion for fifteen years.

A person everyone trusted.

A person who had access to Mateo's room.

Nicolás slowly said:

“The nanny.”

Valeria froze.

“The nanny?”

“She disappeared.”

Sofía looked at Mateo.

And suddenly the baby monitor beside the crib turned on by itself.

Static filled the room.

Then a woman's voice whispered:

“I tried to protect him.”

Everyone froze.

Because they recognized the voice.

The missing nanny.

Then the message continued:

“But your mother stopped me.”

The monitor went black.

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And all eyes turned toward Leonor.

Again.