Chapter 4 - THE MAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Valeria was rushed into a private examination room at Hospital Santa Elena.
Alejandro remained outside while doctors worked to stop the bleeding and stabilize the baby.
Every second felt like punishment.
He replayed the past three days in his mind.
Valeria begging him to leave her alone.
Her hands clutching the blanket.
The fear in her eyes whenever he approached.
He had interpreted every warning as deception because his pride had been easier to believe than her pain.
A doctor finally entered the corridor.
“Mr. Aranda?”
Alejandro stood immediately.
“Is she alive?”
“Your wife is stable for now. So is the baby.”
His knees nearly gave way.
“But?”
The doctor’s face remained grave.
“Preliminary tests indicate she was given unprescribed sedatives. We also found traces of another substance capable of triggering contractions.”
Alejandro stared at him.
“Could those injections have caused her to lose the baby?”
“Yes.”
The doctor paused.
“Judging by the bruising and restraint marks, we are required to report this to the authorities.”
“Do it.”
A voice behind Alejandro interrupted them.
“They already know.”
A tall man in a dark security uniform stood at the far end of the corridor. A bandage covered one side of his forehead.
Alejandro recognized him instantly.
The silhouette in Marcela’s photograph.
He crossed the corridor and grabbed the man by the collar.
“You were in my house.”
“My name is Diego Salas. I worked on your night security team.”
“Why were you in my wife’s room?”
“I wasn’t.”
Diego removed Alejandro’s hands from his uniform.
“I was helping her escape.”
Alejandro released him.
Diego explained that, two weeks earlier, he had seen Marcela escorting an unknown man through the servants’ entrance. The visitor carried a medical bag but was not listed in the security system.
When Diego questioned him, Marcela threatened to have him fired.
Valeria later found Diego near the back garden and begged him for help.
“She said the staff had been ordered to report everything she did,” Diego continued. “She wanted to leave, but her passport and bank cards were missing.”
“Why didn’t you call the police?”
“I tried. Your mother had me removed from the property before I could finish the report.”
Diego handed Alejandro a flash drive.
“I copied part of the security archive before Marcela erased it.”
Alejandro looked down at the small device.
“What does it show?”
“Your mother and sister entering Valeria’s bedroom. The doctor is with them.”
“Who is he?”
“Dr. Federico Montalvo. He runs a private clinic owned through one of your family’s shell companies.”
The name struck Alejandro like a bell.
Montalvo had signed his father’s death certificate.
Before Alejandro could ask another question, two police officers entered the corridor.
Behind them came Doña Esther and Marcela.
Esther’s eyes immediately settled on Diego.
“You,” she whispered.
Diego did not look away.
Marcela began to cry the moment she saw the officers.
It was a perfect performance.
“My sister-in-law has been having an affair with that guard,” she announced. “When we discovered them, she became hysterical and injured herself.”
Alejandro almost admired the speed of the lie.
Almost.
Then Diego nodded toward the flash drive.
“Play the recording.”
A nurse brought them to a nearby consultation room. Alejandro inserted the drive into a computer.
The footage was grainy, but the time and date were visible.
Esther entered Valeria’s room first.
Marcela followed.
Then Dr. Montalvo appeared carrying the medical case.
Minutes later, Diego’s voice could be heard outside the room.
“What are you doing in there?”
The door opened.
Marcela stepped into the hallway and said something that froze everyone in the room.
“If that baby is born, we lose everything.”
The footage continued.
Esther’s voice followed from inside the bedroom.
“Then make sure it isn’t born.”
Marcela’s tears stopped immediately.
The police officers turned toward her.
But before they could speak, Alejandro’s phone rang.
It was the hospital’s security director.
“Mr. Aranda, someone has entered your wife’s room using a stolen staff badge.”
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Alejandro looked through the consultation room’s glass wall.
Valeria’s hospital door was slowly closing.
