CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 9
THE REAL TARGET
Nobody moved.
For several seconds, the underground room became completely silent.
Roberto stared at the little girl.
Seven years old.
Dark hair.
Pale skin.
A tiny scar above her eyebrow.
And a stuffed rabbit hanging from one hand.
The rabbit had a torn ear.
The same torn ear as Sofía's.
But that wasn't what frightened Roberto most.
It was the bracelet.
The old hospital bracelet wrapped around the girl's wrist.
SOFÍA ALVAREZ.
Roberto looked at the child standing beside him.
Then at the girl standing beside Daniel.
Two children.
Two faces.
Two identical names.
One impossible truth.
Sofía squeezed his hand.
"Daddy?"
Roberto couldn't answer.
Daniel smiled.
"I told you."
Roberto finally found his voice.
"Who is she?"
Daniel looked at the girl.
"Your daughter."
"My daughter is standing right here."
Daniel's smile faded.
"That's what they wanted you to believe."
Roberto stepped forward.
"Take one more step toward her and—"
Daniel raised his hand.
"Relax."
Two men emerged from the shadows behind him.
Both armed.
Miguel immediately raised his weapon.
"Put it down."
Daniel laughed softly.
"You still think this is about guns."
Roberto stared at him.
"Then what is it about?"
Daniel looked at the two girls.
"Blood."
The little girl stared at Roberto.
She didn't look afraid.
That made him uneasy.
She looked as if she had been waiting for this moment.
For years.
Roberto crouched.
"What's your name?"
The girl looked at Daniel.
He nodded.
She looked back at Roberto.
"Sofía."
Roberto's heart twisted.
"Who told you that?"
"Mommy."
"Who is your mother?"
The girl pointed toward the corridor.
"She told me to wait."
Roberto looked at Elena.
Elena's face had gone pale.
"You know her?"
Elena nodded.
"Yes."
"Who is she?"
Elena whispered:
"Isabella's daughter."
Roberto stared.
"So she is—"
"No."
Elena shook her head.
"Not the way you think."
Roberto stood.
"Enough."
He pointed at Daniel.
"Tell me the truth."
Daniel smiled.
"You still haven't figured it out."
"Figured out what?"
"Why your father wanted the girls."
Roberto glanced at Sofía.
Then the other child.
"I thought he wanted Lucía."
"He did."
"Why?"
Daniel's expression changed.
"Because Lucía was never the real target."
Roberto froze.
"Then who was?"
Daniel pointed at the girl beside him.
"Her."
Roberto stared.
"Why?"
Daniel stepped closer.
"Because she was born with something your father spent twenty years trying to destroy."
Roberto looked at the girl.
"What?"
Daniel lowered his voice.
"Proof."
"Proof of what?"
"That Rafael Alvarez wasn't the man everyone thought he was."
Mateo suddenly spoke.
"Daniel."
Daniel turned.
"You shouldn't have brought her here."
Daniel smiled.
"You've been hiding for seven years."
"To protect her."
"And failed."
Mateo's face hardened.
"Leave her out of this."
"She's already in it."
"She is a child."
"Exactly."
Daniel looked at Roberto.
"That's why your father couldn't kill her."
Roberto frowned.
"Why not?"
"Because killing her would expose him."
"How?"
Daniel looked at the girl.
"Her blood."
Roberto stared.
"What about her blood?"
Daniel's voice became quiet.
"She carries the same genetic mutation as Rafael's mother."
Roberto frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Daniel smiled.
"It means your father lied about his own identity."
Silence.
Roberto felt the room tilt.
"What are you talking about?"
"Rafael Alvarez wasn't born an Alvarez."
Mateo looked at Roberto.
"Daniel."
But Daniel continued.
"He was adopted."
Roberto shook his head.
"No."
"Your grandfather hid it."
"Why?"
"Because Rafael was the only child capable of inheriting the Alvarez fortune."
Roberto stared.
"So?"
Daniel's eyes hardened.
"Because the original Alvarez bloodline ended with your grandfather's first son."
Roberto's face went blank.
"My father wasn't his biological son."
"No."
"Then who was?"
Daniel pointed at the little girl.
"That's what she proves."
Roberto looked at the child.
"How?"
Daniel took out a folder.
He threw it onto the table.
Roberto opened it.
DNA results.
Old medical reports.
Photographs.
Birth certificates.
And one document dated thirty-two years earlier.
PATERNITY TEST.
The names had been partially blacked out.
But one remained visible.
RAFAEL ALVAREZ.
Underneath:
NO BIOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP.
Roberto's breathing stopped.
He looked at Mateo.
"You knew?"
Mateo nodded.
"I found it when I was sixteen."
"And Father knew?"
"Yes."
"Then why did he stay?"
"Because he couldn't leave."
"Why?"
Mateo looked at Daniel.
"Because the person who knew the truth controlled him."
Roberto's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Daniel answered.
"Isabella's father."
Roberto froze.
"Daniel Reyes."
"Yes."
"You?"
Daniel shook his head.
"My father."
Roberto stared.
"The Reyes family knew?"
"For generations."
"And Rafael?"
"Was terrified."
Roberto looked at the little girl.
"Then why does she matter?"
Daniel opened another document.
This one was newer.
A DNA comparison.
The little girl's name:
AMELIA REYES.
Roberto stared.
"Reyes."
Daniel nodded.
"She isn't Rafael's granddaughter."
"Then whose?"
Daniel looked directly at him.
"Mine."
Roberto's face changed.
"But you said she was my daughter."
Daniel smiled.
"Biologically, she is."
Roberto couldn't breathe.
"What?"
Daniel pointed at the document.
"Your blood."
Roberto looked again.
The report showed a genetic relationship.
Father.
Daughter.
But another line showed:
MATERNAL RELATIONSHIP: ISABELLA ALVAREZ.
Roberto's eyes widened.
"This is impossible."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
He looked at the two girls.
"What's impossible is that you believed you only had one daughter."
Roberto's mind raced.
"Isabella never told me she was pregnant with twins."
"She couldn't."
"Why?"
"Because Rafael knew."
"He knew about both?"
"Yes."
"Then why did he switch them?"
Daniel's expression darkened.
"He didn't."
Roberto froze.
"What?"
"Isabella did."
"Why?"
"Because one of the girls carried a secret."
"Which one?"
Daniel looked at Amelia.
"Her."
Roberto stared.
"Then why did Rafael take Lucía?"
"Because he believed Lucía was Amelia."
"And Amelia?"
"She was hidden."
"Where?"
Daniel looked around.
"Here."
Roberto's eyes widened.
"This mansion?"
"Under it."
"All these years?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Rafael could never find her."
Roberto looked at Vanessa.
She was crying.
"You knew."
Vanessa nodded.
"I knew there was a second child."
"But you didn't know where."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Isabella never told me."
Roberto's voice became cold.
"Then why did you marry me?"
Vanessa swallowed.
"To protect the child."
"You were working for Rafael."
"Yes."
"And Isabella?"
"She knew."
Roberto stared.
"You all knew."
Vanessa whispered:
"We were trying to keep you alive."
A loud crash came from above.
Everyone looked up.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Miguel raised his weapon.
"Someone's coming."
Daniel smiled.
"He's here."
Roberto's blood chilled.
"Who?"
Daniel didn't answer.
A man's voice echoed through the corridor.
"Roberto."
Rafael.
Again.
But this time, closer.
Roberto stepped toward the passage.
"Show yourself."
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Measured.
Then Rafael appeared.
He was older than the photographs.
White hair.
A cane.
A deep scar across his cheek.
But his eyes were sharp.
Cold.
Alive.
Roberto stared at him.
For seven years, he had imagined this moment.
He had imagined rage.
Revenge.
Violence.
Instead, he felt something worse.
Disappointment.
"You let me bury you."
Rafael smiled.
"You buried a man."
"Who?"
"Someone who looked enough like me."
Roberto's jaw tightened.
"You killed him."
"No."
"Then who?"
Rafael looked at Mateo.
"Ask your brother."
Roberto turned.
Mateo looked away.
"What did you do?"
Mateo whispered:
"I didn't know."
Rafael smiled.
"Of course you didn't."
Roberto stepped toward his father.
"Why did you destroy my life?"
Rafael looked at him.
"I didn't."
"You took my wife."
"No."
"You caused the crash."
"No."
"You took my daughter."
"No."
Roberto's voice rose.
"Then what did you do?"
Rafael looked at Amelia.
"I protected the family."
Roberto laughed bitterly.
"By kidnapping children?"
"By keeping a secret."
"What secret?"
Rafael's eyes moved to Daniel.
"Ask him."
Daniel stepped forward.
"You still don't understand."
Roberto turned.
"Explain."
Daniel looked at Rafael.
Then at the two girls.
"The crash wasn't meant to kill Isabella."
Roberto froze.
"It was meant to stop her from telling you the truth."
"What truth?"
Daniel answered:
"That Sofía wasn't the target."
Roberto looked at his daughter.
"Then who was?"
Daniel pointed toward Amelia.
"Her."
Roberto's stomach dropped.
"Why?"
"Because Isabella discovered something about her."
"What?"
Daniel opened another folder.
Inside was a photograph.
Isabella.
Pregnant.
Standing beside a hospital bed.
And behind her—
Rafael.
But the date was impossible.
It was taken nine months before the twins were born.
Roberto stared.
"What's wrong with this?"
Daniel pointed to Isabella's stomach.
"Look."
Roberto did.
Then he understood.
"She was pregnant with one child."
Daniel nodded.
"Exactly."
Roberto's eyes widened.
"But the twins were born."
"Yes."
"Then where did the second baby come from?"
Silence.
Rafael smiled.
"Now you're asking the right question."
Roberto turned toward him.
"Tell me."
Rafael's expression became almost gentle.
"Your wife didn't give birth to twins."
Roberto stared.
"She gave birth to one."
"Then Amelia?"
Rafael looked at the little girl.
"She was already there."
Roberto's blood ran cold.
"What does that mean?"
Rafael whispered:
"She was created."
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Roberto stared.
"Created?"
Rafael nodded.
"Your grandfather funded the research."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Don't."
Rafael ignored him.
"Years ago, the Alvarez family tried to create a child who could survive a disease that killed every male heir."
Roberto stared.
"That's insane."
"Is it?"
Rafael looked at Amelia.
"She survived."
Roberto looked at the child.
She seemed frightened now.
He stepped toward her.
"Amelia."
The girl looked up.
"Yes?"
"Do you know who you are?"
She nodded.
"Mommy told me."
"Who?"
"Isabella."
Roberto's heart broke.
"What did she tell you?"
The girl whispered:
"That Daddy would come."
Roberto's eyes filled with tears.
"She told me you would find me."
He knelt.
"Who is your daddy?"
The girl pointed.
At him.
Roberto stopped breathing.
"Me?"
She nodded.
"Mommy said you were my father."
Daniel looked away.
Rafael smiled.
And Vanessa began crying.
Roberto reached toward the girl.
But before he could touch her, Rafael spoke.
"Don't."
Roberto stopped.
"Why?"
"Because she doesn't belong to you."
Roberto looked at him.
"She's my daughter."
"No."
Rafael's voice became cold.
"She's the reason you're all going to die."
The lights went out.
A gunshot exploded.
Someone screamed.
Roberto grabbed Sofía.
Another shot.
Glass shattered.
Miguel shouted:
"DOWN!"
Roberto dropped behind the table.
Vanessa pulled Amelia into the corner.
Mateo fired toward the corridor.
Daniel disappeared into the darkness.
Rafael was gone.
Then the emergency lights came on.
Red.
Flashing.
Roberto looked around.
"Where's Amelia?"
Vanessa stared.
"She was here."
The corner was empty.
The child was gone.
Roberto's heart stopped.
"Where is my daughter?"
Vanessa pointed toward the corridor.
A small stuffed rabbit lay on the floor.
The torn ear was wet with blood.
Roberto ran.
"AMELIA!"
No answer.
He followed the corridor.
Behind him, Sofía screamed:
"DADDY!"
He turned.
She was pointing at the floor.
A trail of small bloody footprints disappeared into the darkness.
Roberto followed.
The footprints led to another door.
He opened it.
Inside was a room filled with medical equipment.
Machines.
Monitors.
Old photographs.
And a single chair.
Someone had been sitting there recently.
On the table was a folder.
Roberto opened it.
The first page contained a photograph of Amelia.
Underneath:
PROJECT A-7
The second page:
SUBJECT: FEMALE
The third:
BIOLOGICAL MOTHER: UNKNOWN
The fourth:
BIOLOGICAL FATHER: ROBERTO ALVAREZ
Roberto's hands shook.
Then he reached the final page.
There was only one sentence.
THE CHILD IS NOT THE EXPERIMENT.
Roberto stared.
Then turned the page.
Another sentence.
THE MOTHER IS.
His heart stopped.
Isabella.
He looked at the medical photographs.
His wife.
Pregnant.
Connected to machines.
Surrounded by doctors.
And one photograph showed Rafael standing beside her.
Roberto whispered:
"What did they do to you?"
A voice answered behind him.
"They didn't do it to her."
Roberto spun around.
Vanessa stood in the doorway.
Her face was covered in tears.
"Then who?"
Vanessa looked at the photograph.
"Isabella did it herself."
Roberto shook his head.
"No."
"She volunteered."
"Why?"
"To save you."
Roberto stared.
"From what?"
Vanessa whispered:
"From the disease that killed every Alvarez male heir."
Roberto's blood ran cold.
"What disease?"
Vanessa looked at him.
"The one your father gave you."
Silence.
"What?"
"Rafael wasn't trying to kill you."
She stepped closer.
"He was trying to infect you."
Roberto stared.
"Why?"
"Because he needed to prove something."
"What?"
Vanessa's voice broke.
"That you were the real heir."
Roberto couldn't breathe.
Then the monitors in the room suddenly turned on.
One by one.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
A screen illuminated.
A live video appeared.
Amelia was sitting in a chair.
Someone stood behind her.
Rafael.
He looked directly into the camera.
"Now you understand."
Roberto stepped toward the screen.
"Where is she?"
Rafael smiled.
"Safe."
"Let her go."
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because you still haven't found the real target."
Roberto clenched his fists.
"Who?"
Rafael looked at the camera.
Then slowly pointed behind him.
The camera shifted.
Another figure appeared.
A woman.
Older.
Weak.
Sitting in a wheelchair.
Roberto stopped breathing.
The woman lifted her head.
Her face was thinner.
Her hair was gray.
But there was no mistaking her.
Isabella.
Alive.
Roberto's knees nearly collapsed.
"No."
Rafael smiled.
"Hello, son."
Isabella looked into the camera.
Tears streamed down her face.
"Roberto..."
He stepped toward the screen.
"Isabella?"
Her lips trembled.
"Don't trust him."
Rafael placed a hand on her shoulder.
Then leaned toward the camera.
"The crash was only the beginning."
The screen went black.
Roberto stood frozen.
His wife was alive.
His daughter had been kidnapped.
His brother had been lying.
Vanessa had been lying.
And his father had been manipulating all of them for seven years.
But one question now mattered more than all the others.
If Isabella had survived the crash—
who was the woman Roberto had buried?
He slowly turned toward Vanessa.
She was crying.
"You knew."
Vanessa shook her head.
"I knew she survived."
"You let me bury someone else."
"I had no choice."
"Whose body was it?"
Vanessa looked at him.
And whispered:
"Mateo's."
Roberto turned toward his brother.
Mateo stood completely still.
His face was devastated.
"I didn't die."
Roberto stared.
"No."
Mateo shook his head.
"That body was my replacement."
"Who?"
Mateo looked toward the screen where Isabella had disappeared.
Then whispered:
"Rafael killed the wrong person."
A long silence followed.
Then Sofía spoke.
"Daddy?"
Roberto turned.
"What?"
She was holding the old cassette.
Her face was frightened.
"I remember something else."
"What?"
She pointed toward the screen.
"Mommy wasn't alone in the car."
Roberto froze.
"Who was with her?"
Sofía whispered:
"Another woman."
"Who?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know her name."
"Can you describe her?"
Sofía nodded.
"She smelled like flowers."
Roberto's eyes widened.
Vanessa suddenly stopped crying.
Her face changed.
"Flowers."
Roberto looked at her.
"What?"
Vanessa whispered:
"Isabella's mother."
Roberto froze.
"But she died twenty years ago."
Vanessa shook her head.
"No."
"Then where is she?"
Vanessa stared at the screen.
"With Isabella."
Roberto's heart pounded.
"Alive?"
Vanessa nodded.
"And she was in the car."
Silence.
Roberto finally understood.
The crash hadn't been an attack on Isabella.
It had been an attack on three generations of women.
Isabella.
Her mother.
And the child.
And Rafael hadn't been trying to destroy one family.
He had been trying to erase an entire bloodline.
Roberto looked at the dark screen.
Then at the two girls.
Then at Mateo.
Then at Vanessa.
His voice was barely audible.
"We're going to get them back."
Mateo nodded.
Daniel stepped out of the shadows.
"Not if Rafael reaches the laboratory first."
Roberto turned.
"What laboratory?"
Daniel looked at Amelia's empty chair.
"The place where they made her."
Roberto's face hardened.
"Where?"
Daniel answered:
"Under the hospital where the crash victims were taken."
Roberto froze.
The hospital.
The same hospital where Isabella had supposedly died.
The same hospital where Sofía had supposedly been born.
The same hospital where Vanessa had first lied to him.
Daniel continued:
"That's where the truth started."
Roberto picked up his coat.
"And that's where we're ending it."
But beneath the mansion, far away from them, Rafael stood beside Amelia.
He looked down at the little girl.
"Do you remember what your mother told you?"
Amelia nodded.
"She said Daddy would save me."
Rafael smiled.
"Yes."
He leaned closer.
"But she forgot one thing."
"What?"
Rafael looked toward the dark hallway.
"Your father doesn't know which daughter is really his."
Amelia's eyes widened.
Then Rafael whispered:
"And by the time he finds out..."
May you like
He turned off the light.
"...it will be too late."
