CHAPTER 3 – THE CHILD OF PROJECT AURORA
“The experiment… was created for you.”
The words struck Claudia like lightning.
“No…” she whispered. “No, that's impossible.”
Doña Irma's eyes filled with tears.
“I wish it were.”
The hospital room fell silent.
Even the monitors seemed to stop beeping.
Claudia looked at her husband.
Then at Esteban.
Neither of them denied it.
Her heart pounded.
“Tell me the truth. Right now.”
Esteban sighed heavily.
“There is no easy way to explain this.”
“Try.”
He pulled a chair closer and sat down.
Twenty-five years of secrets seemed to weigh on his shoulders.
“Project Aurora began as a medical experiment,” he said. “We wanted to create a treatment capable of regenerating damaged organs and skin.”
“That doesn't explain me.”
“Because everything changed after your mother joined the project.”
Claudia's hands trembled.
“My mother was a scientist?”
“She was the most brilliant researcher we had.”
“No…”
“Yes. Elena Vargas discovered something extraordinary.”
“What?”
“She discovered a genetic anomaly.”
The room went still.
“What anomaly?”
Esteban looked directly into her eyes.
“Yours.”
According to the company records, Claudia had suffered a serious illness when she was only two years old.
Doctors believed she would die.
But something impossible happened.
Her body healed itself.
A damaged lung regenerated within weeks.
The doctors called it a miracle.
Her mother called it a mystery.
And the pharmaceutical company called it an opportunity.
“You're lying,” Claudia said.
“I wish I were.”
He handed her another file.
Inside were dozens of medical reports.
X-rays.
Blood tests.
Hospital records.
And every single document carried her name.
CLAUDIA VARGAS.
Date of birth.
Weight.
Blood type.
Everything was correct.
She looked at the final page.
A sentence had been underlined in red.
Subject demonstrates accelerated cellular regeneration.
Her legs nearly gave out.
“I don't understand…”
“You were unique,” Esteban said quietly. “Possibly the only person in the world born with this condition.”
Doña Irma started crying again.
“She wanted to protect you.”
Claudia looked at her.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Protect me from whom?”
Doña Irma slowly pointed at Esteban.
Twenty-five years earlier…
The company wanted to continue studying Claudia.
They wanted blood samples.
More tests.
More experiments.
But Elena refused.
She believed her daughter would become a laboratory specimen.
A product.
A source of unimaginable profit.
So she did something desperate.
She disappeared.
She took every research document and vanished.
Before leaving, she left Claudia with the only person she trusted.
Irma Salazar.
“Me?” Claudia whispered.
The older woman nodded through tears.
“I promised your mother I would protect you.”
“But… you hated me.”
“I pretended to.”
“What?”
“If they believed I cared about you, they would suspect I knew where your mother was.”
Claudia felt the world spin.
The woman she had spent years resenting…
had been protecting her all along.
Every cruel word.
Every insult.
Every argument.
All of it had been an act.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“That they would come back.”
Silence.
“And now they have.”
Suddenly the door opened.
A nurse rushed inside.
“Doctor!”
Everyone turned.
“What happened?”
The nurse looked terrified.
“The security cameras just captured someone entering the hospital through the emergency exit.”
“So?”
“He wasn't supposed to be there.”
She handed over a tablet.
The moment Claudia saw the image, her blood froze.
A man wearing a black jacket.
Gray hair.
A scar on his left cheek.
She had seen him before.
In a dream.
No…
Not a dream.
A memory.
A very old memory.
A man carrying her in his arms.
A woman screaming.
Rain.
Headlights.
And then darkness.
She dropped the tablet.
“Oh my God…”
“What is it?” Rogelio asked.
“I know him.”
Everyone stared at her.
“You've seen him before?”
She nodded slowly.
“He was there… the night my mother disappeared.”
The room became silent.
Esteban looked shocked.
“That can't be.”
But before anyone could say another word—
The lights went out.
Everything turned black.
A scream echoed somewhere down the corridor.
Then another.
And another.
The emergency generator failed to activate.
The hospital was completely dark.
A few seconds later…
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Approaching.
Claudia's breathing became shallow.
Someone stopped outside the room.
The door handle moved.
Click.
The door opened.
A tall figure stepped inside.
Moonlight from the window illuminated his face.
Gray hair.
Scar on his cheek.
Exactly like the man in the security footage.
Doña Irma gasped.
“No…”
The stranger looked directly at Claudia.
Tears suddenly appeared in his eyes.
“Hello, little star.”
Claudia froze.
Little star.
No one had ever called her that.
Except…
A memory exploded inside her mind.
A warm voice.
A man laughing.
A little girl sitting on his shoulders.
“Look at the stars, little star.”
Her knees buckled.
The stranger smiled sadly.
“You remember.”
She couldn't breathe.
“Who… who are you?”
The man took one trembling step forward.
Then he said the words that shattered her world for the second time that night.
“My name is Gabriel Vargas.”
Silence.
“And I…”
His voice broke.
“…am your father.”
Everyone froze.
Even Esteban looked as if he had seen a ghost.
Because according to every official document in existence…
May you like
Gabriel Vargas had been dead for twenty-three years.
TO BE CONTINUED… 🔥🔥🔥
