Chapter 8 - THE TEST THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
The independent DNA test was performed under police supervision.
Alejandro demanded that three separate laboratories analyze the samples.
No Aranda employee was allowed near them.
While the country waited, Marcela continued her media campaign.
She claimed Alejandro had become irrational.
She said Valeria and Diego had manipulated the security footage.
She accused the police of targeting a respected family for publicity.
Doña Esther issued no public statement.
Her silence was more dangerous than Marcela’s lies.
Two days later, the results arrived.
All three laboratories reached the same conclusion.
Alejandro was the biological father of Valeria’s baby.
The earlier report had been forged.
Reporters turned on Marcela immediately.
The laboratory whose name appeared on the fabricated document announced it had never tested Valeria’s samples. The doctor whose signature appeared at the bottom had died three years earlier.
Marcela disappeared from her apartment before police could question her.
Alejandro believed she would attempt to flee the country.
Diego believed otherwise.
“She won’t leave without the trust documents,” he said. “That money is the reason all of this started.”
The original will was stored in the office of the Aranda family attorney, Sebastián Cruz.
Alejandro called him repeatedly.
There was no answer.
They drove to Sebastián’s office and found the front door unlocked.
Inside, furniture had been overturned.
Files covered the floor.
Sebastián lay unconscious behind his desk.
An empty safe stood open on the wall.
The will was gone.
Paramedics rushed the attorney away.
Security footage showed Marcela entering the building disguised in a dark wig and glasses.
She had taken the original document.
Without it, the family could challenge the trust for years.
Alejandro returned to the hospital believing he had failed again.
Valeria listened quietly.
Then she asked, “Did she take the sealed restoration report?”
“What report?”
“The paper analysis I performed when I first found Ricardo’s letter.”
Valeria explained that she had examined the ink, paper fibers and official seals. Her report contained detailed images of every page of the will.
More importantly, the examination had uncovered a hidden watermark and a handwritten code.
“Your father designed the trust so no single original document could control it,” she said. “The code connects to a digital registry in Switzerland.”
Alejandro stared at her.
“You can activate the trust without the stolen will?”
“Not alone.”
“What do you need?”
“You.”
For the first time since the bedroom confrontation, they worked together.
Alejandro provided his father’s personal identification number.
Valeria entered the hidden code.
The registry opened.
It contained the authenticated will, asset transfers and a video testimony recorded by Ricardo weeks before his death.
In the video, Ricardo named Esther, Rogelio and Marcela as participants in financial crimes.
He also addressed his future grandchild.
“This fortune should never become a weapon,” Ricardo said. “Use it to protect people who cannot protect themselves.”
Valeria covered her mouth, fighting tears.
The trust was real.
It had never been about making the unborn child rich.
It had been designed to remove Esther’s control and expose the stolen accounts.
Alejandro’s lawyer immediately sent the verified records to prosecutors.
Arrest warrants were issued for Esther, Marcela and Rogelio.
Police reached the Aranda mansion first.
They found Esther waiting in the main salon.
She wore pearls and held a glass of wine as officers entered.
But Marcela was not with her.
Neither was the stolen will.
Before being taken away, Esther looked directly into a news camera.
“My daughter will never allow that child to inherit.”
Back at the hospital, the lights suddenly went out.
The emergency generators should have activated immediately.
They did not.
In the darkness, Valeria heard the lock on her hospital room click.
May you like
Then Marcela’s voice whispered from the doorway.
“You should have lost that baby the first time.”
