CHAPTER 3: THE NIGHT THEY CAME BACK
“Take Lucía and run. Right now!”
Mariana's scream echoed through the street.
Javier had never seen his wife like this.
Not angry.
Not defensive.
Terrified.
The kind of terror that comes from seeing a ghost.
The man standing beside the black SUV slowly closed the door behind him.
He was tall, wearing a dark coat despite the warm night. One of his hands remained in his pocket.
And he was smiling.
That smile made Javier's skin crawl.
“Who is he?” he demanded.
Mariana couldn't answer.
She was shaking so badly she could barely stand.
Ernesto, her father, looked ten years older in an instant.
“No…” he whispered. “He found us.”
The stranger began walking toward the house.
One step.
Then another.
Slow.
Calm.
As if he already owned the place.
Lucía buried her face in Javier's shoulder.
“Dad… I don't like him.”
“It's okay,” Javier lied. “I'm here.”
The man stopped at the gate.
Then he looked directly at Mariana.
“It's been a long time,” he said.
She took a step back.
“How did you find me?”
The stranger smiled.
“You know me, Mariana. I always find what belongs to me.”
Javier's blood ran cold.
“What did you just say?”
The man finally looked at him.
“So you're the husband.”
“Who are you?”
Instead of answering, he studied Javier for several seconds.
Then he laughed softly.
“You really don't know anything, do you?”
“Answer me!”
The man's eyes shifted toward Lucía.
“And that's the little girl.”
Immediately, Javier turned so that Lucía was hidden behind his shoulder.
“Don't look at my daughter.”
The stranger's smile faded.
“She has her mother's eyes.”
Mariana suddenly stepped between them.
“Stay away from her!”
The man looked amused.
“You're still protecting people.”
“You have no right to be here.”
“I have every right.”
“No, you don't!”
Ernesto stepped forward.
“Leave, Ricardo.”
The name hung in the air.
Ricardo.
The stranger's expression darkened.
“Hello, old man.”
“You ruined enough lives.”
Ricardo laughed.
“No. I simply came back for what is mine.”
A chill spread through Javier's body.
“What are you talking about?”
No one answered.
Instead, Ricardo reached into his pocket.
Javier's heart nearly stopped.
But the man pulled out an old photograph.
He held it up.
Even from a distance, Javier could see it.
A young Mariana.
No older than sixteen.
Standing beside Ricardo.
Smiling.
With her arm around him.
“What is this?” Javier whispered.
Mariana's face turned white.
“Please…”
“You never told him?” Ricardo asked.
“Stop.”
“You married this man and never told him?”
“Please stop…”
Ricardo's smile disappeared.
Then he looked at Javier and delivered the sentence that shattered everything.
“I used to be engaged to your wife.”
Silence.
Javier blinked.
“What?”
Mariana burst into tears.
“It isn't true anymore!”
“But it was true once.”
“No…”
“Yes,” Ricardo said calmly. “She promised she would marry me.”
Javier looked at his wife.
She couldn't even look at him.
The world suddenly felt unreal.
“How old were you?” he asked softly.
Mariana didn't answer.
Ricardo did.
“She was seventeen.”
Javier frowned.
“Seventeen?”
“And I was twenty-eight.”
The entire street fell silent.
Even Doña Elvira gasped.
Javier slowly turned toward Ricardo.
“You were twenty-eight?”
“Yes.”
“And she was a child.”
Ricardo's smile vanished.
“She loved me.”
“No,” Ernesto said coldly. “You manipulated her.”
“You're lying!”
“Am I?”
Ernesto's voice shook with anger.
“You isolated her from her friends. You made her afraid of everyone. You controlled every part of her life.”
Ricardo's eyes narrowed.
“She was mine.”
“No one belongs to you,” Mariana whispered.
For the first time, Ricardo looked angry.
“You disappeared without saying goodbye.”
“I ran away.”
“You betrayed me.”
“I escaped.”
Silence.
Javier suddenly understood something.
The fear.
The lies.
The nightmares.
The panic whenever someone unexpected knocked on the door.
His wife had not been hiding a lover.
She had been hiding from someone.
Someone dangerous.
Ricardo looked at Lucía again.
“Is she yours?” he asked Javier.
“Of course she is.”
The man nodded slowly.
“Good.”
Javier didn't like the sound of that.
“Why?”
Ricardo smiled again.
“Because for years I wondered whether Mariana had left me for another man… or because she was pregnant.”
Mariana's face drained of color.
“What?”
“She disappeared suddenly,” Ricardo continued. “No explanation. No goodbye. Then I heard rumors that she had a child.”
The silence became unbearable.
Javier felt his pulse racing.
“You thought Lucía was your daughter?” he asked.
Ricardo shrugged.
“I wasn't sure.”
Lucía tightened her arms around Javier's neck.
“Dad…”
“It's okay,” he whispered.
But it wasn't okay.
Not even close.
Ricardo took another step forward.
“I came here tonight to find out the truth.”
“No!” Mariana shouted.
“Relax,” he said. “Now I know.”
He looked at Lucía.
“She isn't mine.”
Then his expression changed.
And suddenly, he looked disappointed.
“That's a shame.”
Javier's protective instincts exploded.
“You need to leave.”
Ricardo ignored him.
Instead, he looked at Mariana.
“You know, I spent twenty years looking for you.”
“Why?”
“Because people don't simply walk away from me.”
She closed her eyes.
“You never loved me.”
He smiled.
“No. But I never liked losing.”
The words sent a shiver down everyone's spine.
Then his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Answered.
Listened.
And smiled.
“Interesting.”
He put the phone away.
Then he looked directly at Javier.
“I have some bad news.”
“I'm not interested.”
“Oh, I think you are.”
“What?”
Ricardo's smile widened.
“The hospital called.”
Everyone froze.
“What hospital?” Javier asked.
“The one you're planning to take your daughter to.”
His blood turned cold.
“How do you know that?”
Ricardo ignored the question.
Instead, he looked at Lucía.
“Little girls with bruises often attract attention.”
No one moved.
Then he delivered the sentence that made Mariana scream.
“Someone has already reported possible child abuse.”
Javier's heart stopped.
“What?”
“Yes. And social services are on their way.”
The street became silent.
Lucía looked up.
“Dad… are they taking me away?”
“No, sweetheart.”
But his voice shook.
Ricardo smiled.
“Oh, this is going to be interesting.”
Mariana suddenly understood.
“You did this.”
He didn't deny it.
“You called them!”
“I simply made a phone call.”
“You monster!”
Ricardo shrugged.
“You ran from me twenty years ago. Consider this… a reunion gift.”
Tears streamed down Mariana's face.
Then, in the distance—
sirens.
Blue and red lights appeared at the end of the street.
And Lucía began to cry.
May you like
Because she thought they had come for her.
TO BE CONTINUED…
