CHAPTER 4 — THE POISONED LUXURY

The baby monitor went silent.

But the message remained.

Everyone heard it.

Everyone understood it.

The missing nanny had not blamed Nicolás.

She had not blamed the doctors.

She had not blamed the staff.

She had blamed Leonor Velasco.

The old woman sat motionless.

Her hands rested on her cane.

Her face revealed nothing.

But Sofía noticed something.

Fear.

Not guilt.

Not anger.

Fear.

That was different.

People who were guilty usually tried to defend themselves.

People who were afraid usually knew something worse was coming.

Nicolás looked at his mother.

“Explain.”

Leonor did not answer.

“Mother.”

Her eyes moved toward Mateo.

The baby was awake again.

Watching.

Waiting.

Almost as if he understood that the room was filled with danger.

“I never wanted him hurt.”

Nicolás's jaw tightened.

“That is not an answer.”

Leonor looked at him.

“You think I would hurt my own grandson?”

“I think you have hidden enough things to make that question possible.”

The words cut deeper than shouting.

Because Leonor knew her son.

She knew exactly why he spoke that way.

Nicolás did not forgive betrayal.

Not from enemies.

Not from family.

Especially not from family.

The investigation into the nursery began immediately.

Every item was removed.

Every piece of furniture.

Every blanket.

Every toy.

Every bottle.

The room that had once represented wealth now looked like a crime scene.

Sofía watched as the security team collected evidence.

“This is not only about the clothes.”

Nicolás looked at her.

“What do you mean?”

She held up a small container.

The same fabric spray they had found earlier.

“The spray was only one part.”

She placed it on the table.

“The problem is everything around Mateo.”

Valeria frowned.

“The room?”

“Yes.”

Sofía looked around.

“The temperature. The air. The materials. The scents.”

She pointed toward the curtains.

“These.”

The curtains were removed.

Inside the fabric were tiny capsules.

Everyone stared.

“What are those?” Valeria asked.

Sofía examined them carefully.

“Not medical equipment.”

“Then what?”

“I don't know yet.”

Nicolás looked at his security chief.

“Find out.”

The man nodded.

Sofía continued.

“The specialists failed because they tested Mateo's body.”

She looked at the room.

“They didn't test his environment.”

That sentence changed everything.

For ten months, the best doctors in the world had examined a baby.

But nobody had examined the place where he spent most of his time.

The nursery was not a room.

It was a system.

Someone had designed it.

Someone had adjusted it.

Someone had watched.

Three hours later, the results came back.

The capsules in the curtains contained a chemical compound.

Not deadly.

Not immediately dangerous.

But harmful.

Especially for a baby.

Sofía read the report twice.

“What is it?”

Nicolás asked.

She looked up.

“A sensory irritant.”

Valeria frowned.

“Meaning?”

“It makes the body uncomfortable.”

“Pain?”

“Yes.”

“Why would someone do that?”

Sofía looked at Mateo.

“Because pain creates reactions.”

The room went quiet.

Nicolás understood.

“This was an experiment.”

“Yes.”

Someone had been measuring Mateo.

How long he cried.

How his skin reacted.

How his body responded.

A baby had become a test subject inside his own home.

The security team checked every employee.

One by one.

The mansion became a place of suspicion.

The gardener.

The cooks.

The cleaners.

The drivers.

Everyone.

But the strangest discovery came from the laundry room.

A hidden cabinet.

Inside were dozens of bottles.

Different brands.

Different labels.

But all containing the same chemical.

Sofía examined them.

“These were used on Mateo's clothes.”

Nicolás looked at the dates.

All purchased recently.

After Mateo was born.

“Who ordered them?”

The security chief checked.

Then stopped.

“What?”

The man looked uncomfortable.

“Señor…”

“Say it.”

“They were purchased through the Velasco household account.”

Silence.

Valeria looked at Nicolás.

“What does that mean?”

“It means someone inside the family paid for this.”

Nicolás stared at the records.

A family account.

Only a few people had access.

Him.

Valeria.

Leonor.

And one more person.

Someone who had been managing household expenses for years.

Leonor's personal assistant.

“Find her.”

The guards moved.

But they returned fifteen minutes later.

“She is gone.”

Nicolás's expression darkened.

“Since when?”

“Three days.”

Three days.

The same time Sofía arrived.

The same time the anonymous message appeared.

The same time everything started falling apart.

That night, Sofía found Nicolás alone in the nursery.

The room was empty.

Except for Mateo.

The billionaire stood beside the crib.

Not like a businessman.

Not like a powerful man.

Just a father.

“You blame yourself.”

Sofía's voice surprised him.

He did not turn.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I built this.”

She looked around.

“The house?”

“The system.”

He touched the edge of the crib.

“I created a world where everyone around me follows orders.”

A pause.

“I never asked if they believed those orders were right.”

Sofía remained quiet.

There was something different about Nicolás now.

The anger was still there.

But underneath it was something else.

Regret.

“Your son needs you to stop being a powerful man.”

He looked at her.

“What does he need?”

“A father.”

The answer was simple.

But it hurt.

Near midnight, the security alarm activated.

Again.

Everyone rushed downstairs.

This time, the alert came from the basement.

The same place where Alejandro had appeared.

Nicolás arrived first.

The basement door was open.

Inside, everything was dark.

A security guard raised his weapon.

“Someone was here.”

Nicolás entered.

On the floor was a box.

Old.

Covered in dust.

No fingerprints.

No label.

Only one word written on top.

VELASCO.

Nicolás opened it.

Inside were photographs.

Documents.

And one object.

A small hospital bracelet.

Sofía picked it up.

Her face changed.

Because she recognized the name.

Not Mateo.

Not Alejandro.

A different child.

A child from twelve years ago.

The bracelet read:

DIEGO REYES

Her brother's name.

Sofía stopped breathing.

“No…”

Nicolás looked at her.

“You know him?”

She couldn't answer.

Because the impossible had happened.

Her brother's medical bracelet was inside the Velasco mansion.

The same mansion where Mateo had been suffering.

The same mansion where Alejandro Velasco disappeared.

The same mansion where secrets were buried.

Sofía turned toward Nicolás.

Her eyes filled with anger.

“You knew.”

“I didn’t.”

“Then why is my brother's name here?”

Nicolás had no answer.

The box contained one final item.

A letter.

Old.

Yellowed.

Written twelve years ago.

Sofía opened it.

Only one sentence was visible.

Her hands began to shake.

Because the handwriting belonged to Alejandro Velasco.

Sofía Reyes, if you are reading this, they have already found your brother.

Nobody spoke.

Then another line appeared below.

A warning.

A warning that changed everything.

Mateo is not the target. He is the proof.

The basement lights went out.

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And somewhere above them…

Mateo began screaming.