Chapter 10 — The Secret Marriage
Chapter 10 — The Secret Marriage
Mariana did not go alone.
The moment the black car disappeared from beneath her window, she called Lucía.
“Someone left Camila’s backpack outside.”
There was a pause.
“Did you touch it?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“They told me to come alone.”
“And you’re not going to.”
Mariana looked toward the door.
“No.”
She picked up her coat.
“But I am going.”
Lucía sighed.
“I knew you were going to say that.”
“Can you find Daniel?”
“I already have.”
“Where?”
“On his way to you.”
Mariana stopped.
“Did you tell him?”
“No.”
“Then how—”
“Because he called me first.”
Mariana frowned.
“Why?”
Lucía's voice became quieter.
“He said he finally remembered something.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
“Then find out.”
“I will.”
The call ended.
Mariana looked at Camila's backpack again.
It was small.
Yellow.
A cartoon rabbit was stitched onto the front.
There was still a tiny smear of chocolate on one strap.
Mariana touched it.
Her daughter had carried that backpack to school every morning.
She had worn it when Mariana took her to the zoo.
She had slept beside it during their last vacation.
Now it had become a message.
A threat.
Or perhaps a promise.
Mariana put on her coat.
Then she stopped.
Something was sticking out from the backpack.
A folded piece of paper.
She pulled it free.
Only four words were written on it.
YOUR HUSBAND IS MARRIED.
Mariana stared.
Then laughed.
It was not a happy laugh.
It was the sound of someone who had finally become too exhausted to be surprised.
Daniel was already her husband.
Who else was he married to?
Daniel arrived twenty minutes later.
Mariana was waiting in the hallway.
He immediately noticed the backpack.
His face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
“Someone left it downstairs.”
“Did you open it?”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
Mariana held up the note.
Daniel read it.
His expression went completely blank.
“You knew.”
It wasn't a question.
Daniel looked at her.
“I knew there was another marriage.”
Mariana felt something inside her crack.
“Another marriage?”
“It's complicated.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“It isn't complicated anymore.”
Her voice trembled.
“You have one wife.”
“Yes.”
“You married me.”
“Yes.”
“Who is the other woman?”
Daniel looked away.
Mariana grabbed his arm.
“Look at me.”
He did.
And she saw fear.
Not guilt.
Fear.
“Her name is Sofia.”
Mariana froze.
“Your sister?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Silence.
“The woman I told you was my sister…”
He swallowed.
“She was never my sister.”
Mariana stared at him.
“Then who is she?”
Daniel whispered:
“My first wife.”
For several seconds, Mariana couldn't move.
The hallway seemed to shrink around them.
“You married Sofia?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before I met you.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was told she was dead.”
Mariana shook her head.
“You knew she was alive.”
“I suspected.”
“You supported her.”
“Yes.”
“You had another identity.”
“Yes.”
“And you married her.”
“I was seventeen.”
Mariana stared.
“Seventeen?”
Daniel nodded.
“It wasn't a normal marriage.”
“What kind of marriage was it?”
“A protection marriage.”
Mariana's expression hardened.
“That doesn't exist.”
“It does when your family owns half the people who can destroy you.”
He looked exhausted.
“My mother arranged it.”
“Why?”
“To hide Sofia.”
“From whom?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Mariana already knew.
“M-17.”
“Yes.”
Daniel sat down.
He looked like a man who had carried a secret for so long that putting it down hurt more than carrying it.
“My father discovered M-17 when I was a child,” he said.
“It wasn't just a medical program. It was a network.”
“A network for what?”
“Children.”
Mariana's stomach tightened.
“Children whose identities could be altered.”
“Why?”
“To serve powerful families.”
Mariana shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“They couldn't just switch children.”
“They could if the records were controlled.”
He looked at her.
“Birth certificates. Hospital records. DNA samples. Adoption files. School records.”
“Everything.”
Mariana thought of the video.
The two babies.
Carmen.
The hospital.
“Then Sofia was one of them.”
“Yes.”
“She was supposed to disappear.”
“Yes.”
“But you married her.”
“My mother thought a marriage would give her a legal identity that couldn't easily be erased.”
Mariana stared at him.
“And you agreed?”
“I was seventeen.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's important.”
Daniel's voice broke.
“I wasn't protecting a wife.”
“I was protecting a girl.”
Mariana looked away.
“What happened?”
“My mother found out.”
“And?”
“She wanted Sofia removed.”
“So she killed her?”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“She staged her death.”
Mariana closed her eyes.
Every lie had another lie beneath it.
Every secret opened another door.
“Then why did you marry me?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Because I thought Sofia was dead.”
“And you never investigated?”
“I did.”
“For how long?”
“Years.”
“Then you found her.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
The exact year Camila was born.
Mariana's heart sank.
“You found her when Camila was born.”
Daniel nodded.
“And you never told me.”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because Sofia wasn't alone.”
Mariana stared at him.
“Who was with her?”
Daniel's voice dropped.
“A baby.”
Mariana stopped breathing.
“Whose baby?”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“I don't know.”
The room went silent.
Mariana whispered:
“The second baby.”
“Yes.”
“That's why you said you knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew there were two.”
“I knew there had been two.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I was trying to find out which one was ours.”
Mariana's eyes filled with tears.
“Ours?”
“I mean—”
“Don't.”
Daniel stopped.
Mariana stepped away.
“You don't get to call either child yours until you tell me the truth.”
Daniel nodded.
“You're right.”
She wiped her face.
“What happened three years ago?”
Daniel took a deep breath.
“Sofia contacted me.”
“From where?”
“Mexico City.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she had a child.”
“Camila?”
“No.”
Mariana's heart pounded.
“She said the child was connected to M-17.”
“What did you do?”
“I went to see her.”
“And?”
“She showed me the hospital records.”
“Were they real?”
“I don't know.”
“You saw the baby?”
“Yes.”
“Was it Camila?”
Daniel hesitated.
“I couldn't tell.”
Mariana stared at him.
“You couldn't recognize your own daughter?”
“The baby wasn't the baby you were holding.”
Mariana felt sick.
“Then who was she?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
A knock interrupted them.
Lucía entered.
She was holding a tablet.
“I found something.”
Mariana turned.
“What?”
Lucía placed the tablet on the table.
“A marriage certificate.”
Mariana looked down.
The document was old.
Yellowed.
But the names were unmistakable.
Daniel Herrera
and
Sofia Reyes.
The marriage date was seventeen years earlier.
Mariana stared at it.
“It's real.”
“Yes.”
“Who was the witness?”
Lucía zoomed in.
Mariana's face went pale.
“Carmen.”
“Yes.”
“And the second witness?”
Lucía hesitated.
“Your father.”
Mariana looked up.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
Her father's name was printed beneath the certificate.
The same man who had supposedly died when Mariana was twenty.
The same man whose files were connected to M-17.
The same man who appeared in the hospital video.
Mariana stepped backward.
“My father was alive.”
Lucía nodded.
“At least at the time of the marriage.”
Mariana looked at Daniel.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“You knew my father was involved?”
“I knew he was connected to M-17.”
“But you didn't know he witnessed your marriage to Sofia?”
“No.”
Lucía interrupted.
“There is more.”
She opened another document.
“This marriage wasn't simply a marriage.”
“What was it?”
“A legal transfer.”
Mariana frowned.
“Of what?”
Lucía looked at Daniel.
“Guardianship.”
Daniel's face changed.
“Whose guardianship?”
Lucía answered:
“Sofia's.”
Mariana stared.
“So Carmen made you responsible for Sofia.”
“Yes.”
“And then when Sofia disappeared…”
Daniel's voice was barely audible.
“I became legally responsible for finding her.”
Mariana shook her head.
“But if she was your wife, why would your mother need guardianship?”
Lucía looked at her.
“Because Sofia wasn't an adult.”
Mariana's blood turned cold.
“How old was she?”
“Fourteen.”
Silence.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I didn't know.”
“You were seventeen.”
“Yes.”
“You were a child too.”
“I know.”
Mariana looked at the certificate.
Something about it felt monstrous.
Not romantic.
Not secretive.
A transaction.
Two children used as pieces in a game played by adults.
Then Lucía opened another file.
“This is why the marriage matters.”
Mariana looked at the screen.
A legal clause had been highlighted.
Any biological child born to Sofia during the protected period shall remain under the legal guardianship of Daniel Herrera and the Herrera family.
Mariana's hands began to shake.
“That's why they wanted the baby.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“The baby wasn't just part of M-17.”
“No.”
“The baby was legally valuable.”
“Yes.”
Mariana looked at him.
“Was that why Camila was taken?”
“We don't know.”
“No.”
Mariana's voice became stronger.
“We do.”
She pointed at the clause.
“They weren't after Camila because she was my daughter.”
She looked at Daniel.
“They were after her because of Sofia.”
Daniel stared at the document.
Then suddenly whispered:
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Sofia told me her baby died.”
Mariana froze.
“What?”
“Three years ago, Sofia told me her child died immediately after birth.”
“Then who was the baby in the video?”
“I don't know.”
Mariana's phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Hello?”
A woman's voice spoke.
“You finally found the marriage certificate.”
Mariana froze.
“Who are you?”
“You've been asking the wrong questions.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“Safe.”
“Put her on.”
A pause.
Then Camila's voice came through.
“Mommy?”
Mariana's knees nearly gave way.
“Camila!”
“Mommy, I'm okay.”
“Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
“Who is with you?”
The little girl hesitated.
“Daddy.”
Mariana looked at Daniel.
His face had gone white.
“Which daddy?”
Camila whispered:
“The other one.”
The call ended.
Daniel stood frozen.
Mariana turned toward him.
“The other one?”
“I don't know what she means.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
“You said Sofia had a baby.”
“Yes.”
“You said you didn't know where that baby was.”
“Yes.”
“Then why does Camila call someone else Daddy?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Mariana looked at Lucía.
“Find the number.”
Lucía was already working.
Seconds later, she looked up.
“I have a location.”
“Where?”
“An old private hospital.”
Daniel recognized the name.
His face changed.
“That hospital doesn't exist anymore.”
“Apparently it does.”
“Where?”
Lucía gave him the address.
Daniel stared at it.
“I've been there.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Mariana's heart raced.
“What did you find?”
“Nothing.”
“You're lying.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I found Sofia.”
“And?”
“She was holding a baby.”
“Which baby?”
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't know.”
Mariana stepped closer.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“Was it Camila?”
Daniel hesitated.
Then whispered:
“I thought it was.”
They drove through the night.
The hospital appeared at the end of a deserted road.
No sign.
No lights.
Only a rusted gate.
Mariana got out first.
Daniel followed.
Lucía stayed close.
Inside, the building smelled of dust and disinfectant.
A corridor led toward the maternity wing.
Mariana saw old photographs on the wall.
Doctors.
Nurses.
Newborn babies.
Then she saw one photograph that made her stop.
A young nurse was holding two newborns.
One wore a yellow bracelet.
The other wore a blue bracelet.
Written beneath the photograph:
M-17 TRANSFER — FINAL STAGE.
Mariana touched the glass.
“Two babies.”
Daniel stared.
Then he noticed something.
The yellow bracelet had a tiny rabbit symbol.
The same symbol as Camila's backpack.
Mariana's breathing stopped.
“That's her.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“The other bracelet.”
He pointed.
The blue bracelet had a silver bird.
Mariana's face went pale.
The symbol from Isabel.
The symbol from the mysterious woman.
The symbol appearing everywhere.
Two babies.
Two symbols.
Two identities.
And perhaps two families.
Then a voice echoed behind them.
“You were never supposed to find this place.”
Mariana turned.
Carmen stood at the end of the corridor.
She was holding a gun.
Daniel stepped in front of Mariana.
“Mom.”
Carmen smiled sadly.
“You always were a disappointment.”
“Where is Camila?”
“Safe.”
“Give her to us.”
“No.”
Mariana stepped forward.
“Why?”
Carmen looked at her.
“Because if you take her home, the truth will destroy all of you.”
“You already destroyed us.”
Carmen's expression changed.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Carmen lowered the weapon slightly.
“Your daughter isn't the child you think she is.”
Mariana's heart pounded.
“Then who is she?”
Carmen looked at Daniel.
Then at Mariana.
Then at the old photograph.
“She is the child everyone has been fighting over for twenty years.”
A gunshot suddenly shattered the corridor.
The lights went out.
Mariana screamed.
Daniel grabbed her.
Someone ran past them.
A door slammed.
When the emergency lights came on, Carmen was gone.
So was the photograph.
But something remained on the floor.
A small yellow bracelet.
Mariana picked it up.
On the inside were three handwritten letters.
M.T.
Her initials.
She stared at them.
Then she heard a tiny voice from somewhere beyond the locked maternity ward.
“Mommy?”
Mariana ran toward it.
Daniel followed.
They reached the door.
It was locked.
Mariana grabbed the handle.
“Camila!”
No answer.
Then a child's voice whispered:
“Mommy, don't open the door.”
“Why?”
“Because the lady says Daddy will die if you do.”
Mariana looked at Daniel.
His face went pale.
“Who told you that?”
Camila began to cry.
“The lady who married Daddy.”
Mariana's blood froze.
“Sofia?”
“No.”
A pause.
Then Camila whispered:
“Grandma.”
May you like
The lights went out again.
And somewhere inside the darkness, a woman began laughing.
