## CHAPTER 15 — THE WOMAN WHO SAVED US
Daniel searched Sofia before allowing her inside.
She carried no weapon.
Only a blood-stained envelope and an old brass key.
When she saw me, her eyes filled with tears.
“You look like her.”
“My mother?”
Sofia nodded.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“You helped her disappear.”
“I helped her escape the hospital. What happened afterward was not my choice.”
I stepped closer.
“Did you save Mateo?”
“Yes.”
“Who tried to replace him?”
“A nurse paid through one of Beatriz’s companies.”
“Why?”
“To create confusion about his identity. Once the records were altered, Beatriz could challenge your custody and claim the child was not yours.”
“She already tried to have me declared unstable.”
“That was only the first step.”
Sofia looked toward my father.
“You should have told her.”
“I told her what I knew.”
“You told her the part that made you look innocent.”
My father’s jaw tightened.
“What are you accusing me of?”
“Santa Aurelia operated for twelve years because men like you ignored where the money came from.”
“I never knew children were involved.”
“You knew records were being purchased.”
“I believed they were adoption records.”
“And that made it acceptable?”
My father had no answer.
I opened the blood-stained envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Beatriz sitting in the back seat of a vehicle.
Her hands were bound.
A man in a gray coat sat beside her.
On the back was an address and a time.
Midnight.
“What is this?”
“They sent it to me.”
“Why?”
“Because they want the registry.”
“The microfilm?”
“That is only part of it.”
Sofia placed the brass key on the table.
“Your mother divided the original registry into three pieces. One was hidden inside your bracelet. One was placed in a bank vault. The final section disappeared with Subject A.”
My voice became unsteady.
“Was Subject A my sister?”
Sofia looked at my father before answering.
“Yes.”
I gripped the table.
“Are you certain?”
“You were born seven minutes apart.”
“What was her name?”
“Your mother called her Luciana.”
“Was she alive when my father left?”
“Yes.”
My father turned toward Sofia.
“You told me the second child had died.”
“I told you what I had to tell you.”
“You let me leave her.”
“You would not have reached the parking lot with two infants.”
“You had no right.”
“Neither did you.”
Their anger filled the room, but I barely heard it.
I had a sister.
A twin sister.
Somewhere in the world, a woman had my birthday, my mother’s blood, and perhaps my face.
“Who took Luciana?”
Sofia lowered her eyes.
“Beatriz.”
My father struck the table with his palm.
“You said you would protect her.”
“I tried.”
“What did Beatriz do with her?”
“She raised Luciana inside the organization.”
“As what?”
Sofia looked at me.
“As insurance.”
I thought about the man in the gray coat.
The list of judges and business owners.
The people who had controlled identities and inheritances for decades.
“Is she alive?”
“She was alive eight years ago.”
“How do you know?”
Sofia took a small device from her pocket.
It contained a single audio recording.
A young woman’s voice spoke through heavy static.
“My name is Luciana. I was born at Santa Aurelia Hospital. If my sister is alive, tell her not to trust Arturo Salazar.”
My father went completely still.
The recording continued.
“He did not rescue her.”
“He chose her.”
May you like
“And one day, I will make him explain why.”
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