CHAPTER 4: THE WOMAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
The note slipped from Esteban's trembling hands.
NEXT TIME, THE BOY DIES.
The words seemed to echo through the empty mansion.
Mariana looked pale.
“We need to call the police.”
But Esteban couldn't move.
Because another thought had just entered his mind.
If Valeria really knew his wife before they met…
Then their entire marriage had been a lie.
Every smile.
Every kiss.
Every tear.
All of it.
A plan.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated again.
This time, it was the hospital.
He answered immediately.
“Mr. Luján?” a nurse said nervously.
“Yes?”
“You need to come back right now.”
His heart stopped.
“Why? What's happened?”
“Your son is gone.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Mateo isn't in his room.”
The phone nearly slipped from his hand.
“He disappeared twenty minutes ago.”
THE HOSPITAL
Ten minutes earlier…
Mateo had been sleeping.
The machines beeped softly beside him.
Then he heard a voice.
A familiar voice.
“Mateo…”
The boy slowly opened his eyes.
A woman was standing near the window.
She wore white.
Her face was hidden by shadows.
“Mom?” he whispered.
The woman smiled.
“Come with me.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“But… you're dead.”
She stepped closer.
“Not everything is what it seems.”
The boy's breathing became shaky.
“I'm scared.”
“I know.”
“Dad doesn't believe me.”
“He will.”
The woman touched his cheek.
“You have to be brave.”
“Who are you?”
She smiled sadly.
“You already know.”
Then she leaned close and whispered:
“The key is under the clock.”
Suddenly—
The hospital room door opened.
A nurse entered.
“Mateo? Who are you talking to?”
The boy turned around.
“No one…”
When he looked back toward the window…
The woman was gone.
Only a single white lily remained on the floor.
PRESENT TIME
Esteban burst into the hospital.
“Where is my son?!”
Doctors and nurses were searching everywhere.
Security footage had already been reviewed.
No one had seen Mateo leave.
It was impossible.
A sick ten-year-old child couldn't simply disappear.
Then a nurse approached.
“We found this in his bed.”
She handed him a folded piece of paper.
His hands shook as he opened it.
The message was written in a child's handwriting.
Dad, I saw Mom.
She told me to go home.
She said the key is under the clock.
Mariana's eyes widened.
“The clock?”
Esteban suddenly froze.
There was only one clock in the house that mattered.
A huge antique grandfather clock.
It had belonged to Elena.
She loved it so much that she refused to replace it.
After her death, nobody touched it.
Not once.
“Let's go,” Esteban said.
THE MANSION
The storm had finally stopped.
The house stood in complete darkness.
Esteban pushed open the front door.
“Mateo!”
No answer.
They ran toward the living room.
The grandfather clock stood in the corner.
Silent.
Waiting.
Esteban knelt down.
His hands searched beneath the wooden base.
Then—
Click.
His fingers touched something.
A small metal key.
Mariana gasped.
“He was right…”
The businessman stared at it.
“How could he know this was here?”
Neither of them had an answer.
Because as far as Esteban knew…
Only one person had ever hidden that key.
Elena.
With trembling hands, he inserted it into a tiny keyhole on the side of the clock.
Nothing happened.
Then he turned it.
A loud click echoed.
And suddenly—
Part of the wall behind the clock moved.
A hidden compartment slowly opened.
Mariana stepped back in shock.
Inside was a small safe.
Covered in dust.
Untouched for years.
Esteban entered the combination.
His late wife's birthday.
The safe opened.
Inside were three things:
A USB drive.
A stack of photographs.
A sealed envelope.
The envelope had his name on it.
FOR ESTEBAN. OPEN ONLY IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME.
His hands trembled violently.
Slowly, he opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Written by Elena.
My love,
If you are reading this, then I was right.
Someone wanted me dead.
And if I disappeared, it was not an accident.
The woman following me is named Valeria Mendoza.
She has been obsessed with you for years.
I discovered something terrible about her.
She already had a husband.
And he died under mysterious circumstances.
I was going to tell you everything tonight…
But if you're reading this, I never had the chance.
Trust no one.
Especially not her.
The letter slipped from Esteban's hands.
Mariana couldn't breathe.
Valeria had another husband?
And he died?
Suddenly—
A small voice came from behind them.
“Dad…”
Both of them turned.
Mateo stood in the doorway.
Alive.
Pale.
Holding a white lily.
Esteban ran toward him and hugged him tightly.
“Oh my God…”
The boy was crying.
“She was here.”
“Who?”
“Mom.”
Silence.
“She told me where to find the key.”
Esteban slowly looked at him.
“Mateo…”
But before he could finish—
A loud noise came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Someone was running.
All three looked toward the staircase.
Then they heard a door slam.
Mariana's face turned white.
“We're not alone.”
Esteban grabbed a fireplace poker.
“Stay with Mateo.”
He climbed the stairs.
One step.
Two steps.
Three.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then he reached the master bedroom.
The door was slightly open.
He pushed it.
Creeeeak.
Inside…
No one.
But on the bed lay something.
A photograph.
He picked it up.
And nearly dropped it.
It was a picture of Valeria.
Standing beside a man.
A man whose face had been crossed out with red ink.
On the back of the photo, someone had written:
HER FIRST HUSBAND DIDN'T DIE IN AN ACCIDENT EITHER.
Then suddenly—
A voice whispered behind him.
“You should have left the safe closed.”
Esteban slowly turned around.
And his blood ran cold.
Because standing in the darkness…
Was Valeria.
May you like
Holding a gun.
And smiling.
TO BE CONTINUED…
