Chapter 5: The Enemy Inside the House
I knew walking back was dangerous.
Every logical thought in my head told me to run.
Find the police.
Find a lawyer.
Find someone powerful enough to fight people like Mauricio Alcántara.
But then I looked at the photograph again.
My father.
Tied to a chair.
His face bruised.
His eyes looking directly at the camera.
Not with fear.
With a warning.
He wasn't asking me to save him.
He was telling me not to make the same mistake he made.
Trusting the wrong people.
I put the phone in my pocket and held the USB drive tightly.
My mother had hidden this for a reason.
People had died because of whatever was inside.
And now my father was paying the price.
I couldn't walk away.
Not anymore.
I returned through the back streets, staying away from the main roads.
The old house sat at the end of the street like a memory I couldn't escape.
The front windows were broken.
The garden was destroyed.
The place where my mother once planted flowers had become a battlefield.
I stayed hidden behind a wall and watched.
Three vehicles were parked outside.
The black SUV.
A dark sedan.
And a van I recognized.
The same van that had carried Beatriz.
My hands tightened into fists.
She was here.
Somewhere.
Alive.
I hoped.
A light turned on inside the house.
Then I heard voices.
“Search the entire property again.””
The voice was calm.
Mauricio.
I moved closer.
There was a small broken window near the kitchen.
I carefully looked inside.
And there he was.
Mauricio Alcántara.
The man whose name had been connected to every secret I had uncovered.
He looked nothing like the monster I expected.
That was the terrifying part.
He looked normal.
A man in an expensive suit.
Gray hair perfectly styled.
A gold watch on his wrist.
The kind of person strangers would trust immediately.
He stood in the middle of my childhood home like he owned it.
Maybe he thought he did.
My father was sitting in a chair across from him.
His hands were tied.
But he was awake.
Mauricio walked around him slowly.
“You know what I find interesting about you, Raúl?””
My father said nothing.
“You spent eight years hiding.””
Mauricio smiled.
“But you still couldn't protect him.””
My jaw tightened.
My father looked up.
“Leave my son out of this.””
Mauricio laughed softly.
“Your son?””
He leaned closer.
“You still think you are his father?””
My father's face changed.
That sentence hurt.
Even from outside the window, I felt it.
Mauricio continued.
“You disappeared when he needed you most.””
“Because of you.””
The room became silent.
Mauricio smiled.
“Maybe.””
My heart raced.
My father knew.
He knew everything.
“I gave you a choice eight years ago,” Mauricio said.
“You could have stayed quiet.””
My father looked at him.
“And let you destroy Beatriz?””
Mauricio's smile disappeared.
“There it is.””
He walked toward the table.
“The thing I never understood about people like you.””
He picked up a photograph from the table.
My mother.
“You always believe doing the right thing matters.””
My breathing stopped.
He was holding my mother's picture.
“Your wife believed the same thing.””
My father looked furious.
“Don't say her name.””
Mauricio ignored him.
“She was smart.””
He stared at the photograph.
“Too smart.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“She discovered the accounts.””
My father said nothing.
“She found the missing money.””
Still nothing.
“She found the names.””
Mauricio placed the photograph down.
“And she thought exposing me would save everyone.””
My hands trembled.
The names.
The evidence.
The USB.
My mother had found something bigger than theft.
Mauricio leaned toward my father.
“But she made one mistake.””
My father looked up.
“What?””
“She trusted you.””
The words echoed.
My father closed his eyes.
I saw pain on his face.
Mauricio continued.
“You were weak, Raúl.””
“No.””
My father's voice was low.
“I was afraid.””
For a second, Mauricio looked surprised.
Then he laughed.
“At least you finally admit it.””
My father looked toward the window.
For a brief moment, I thought he saw me.
But he didn't.
He looked down.
“I was afraid of losing my son.””
My chest tightened.
Mauricio walked away.
“Then why did you leave him?””
Silence.
My father didn't answer.
Because there was no easy answer.
I understood that.
Even if his reasons were good, the pain was real.
The years without him were real.
Then another voice entered the room.
A woman's voice.
“Because he thought sacrificing himself was the only way.””
I froze.
Elena.
She stepped into view.
The woman from the phone.
She wasn't a victim.
She wasn't hiding.
She was standing beside Mauricio.
My stomach dropped.
Mauricio smiled.
“Perfect timing.””
My mind raced.
Was she working with him?
Was everything a trap?
Elena looked at my father.
Then at Mauricio.
“You promised no one would get hurt.””
Mauricio's expression hardened.
“Careful.””
Elena looked uncomfortable.
That told me something.
She wasn't like them.
She was afraid.
Mauricio walked closer.
“You forget who protected you all these years.””
Elena looked away.
“I remember.””
“Then remember why you are still alive.””
My blood went cold.
Still alive.
Another person who was supposed to be gone.
Another secret.
Inside the room, my father suddenly noticed something.
A reflection in the broken window.
Me.
His eyes widened.
No.
I knew immediately.
He had seen me.
I pressed a finger to my lips.
Don't say anything.
My father looked away.
But Mauricio noticed.
“What are you looking at?””
My father's expression changed.
Nothing.
Mauricio studied him.
Then slowly walked toward the window.
My heart stopped.
I moved backward.
One step.
Two steps.
The door behind me suddenly opened.
I turned.
A man stood there.
One of Mauricio's guards.
I was trapped.
He looked at me.
Then at the USB drive in my hand.
A smile appeared on his face.
“Well, well.””
My blood turned cold.
“You saved me the trouble.””
I stepped back.
The man reached for me.
I grabbed the closest object.
A broken piece of wood from the fence.
I wasn't strong.
I wasn't trained.
But I had survived on the streets.
I knew how to fight when I had no choice.
The man grabbed my jacket.
I swung.
The wood hit his arm.
He cursed.
I ran.
Behind me, alarms started.
Voices shouted.
“He's here!””
I sprinted through the garden.
The old house behind me filled with chaos.
But I didn't stop.
Because now I knew something.
Elena wasn't just a witness.
She was part of the story.
And somehow, she knew my mother.
I reached the street.
A car suddenly stopped in front of me.
I froze.
The window lowered.
A woman looked at me from inside.
She was older.
Her face was tired.
But I recognized her immediately.
I had seen her before.
In my mother's photographs.
The woman who stood beside Lucía and Beatriz.
The woman my mother trusted.
She opened the door.
“Get in.””
I didn't move.
“How do you know me?””
Her eyes filled with sadness.
“Because I held you the night your mother died.””
My entire body went cold.
“What?””
She looked toward the house.
“They are coming.””
Then she looked back at me.
“And Diego…”
Her voice shook.
“Your mother didn't die from cancer.””
The world seemed to stop.
I stared at her.
“What did you say?””
She opened the glove compartment.
Inside was an old medical file.
My mother's name was written on it.
And beneath it was a diagnosis I had never seen before.
*Cause of death: poisoning.*
The woman looked at me.
May you like
“The woman who raised you was murdered.””
And suddenly, every memory of my childhood changed.
