CHAPTER 3: THE LITTLE GIRL'S REAL NAME
"No..."
The word escaped Valeria's lips like a whisper.
It couldn't be true.
It had to be a lie.
A cruel trick.
She looked at Camila.
At the little girl she had carried in her arms every night when she had nightmares.
The child whose first word had been "Mom."
The little girl who ran into her room every morning and jumped onto her bed.
Her daughter.
Her entire world.
"No," she repeated, louder this time. "She's my daughter."
Ricardo didn't answer immediately.
He kept staring at Camila.
His eyes had changed.
The anger was still there, but now it was mixed with something else.
Pain.
And hope.
The kind of hope that hurts.
"How old are you?" he asked softly.
Camila tightened her grip on Valeria's hand.
"Six."
Ricardo swallowed hard.
"What month is your birthday?"
"September."
A tear rolled down his cheek.
"Oh God..."
Valeria's heart pounded.
"What does that mean?"
Ricardo slowly sat down in a chair as if his legs could no longer hold him.
"Six years ago," he said quietly, "my wife and I had a daughter."
The kitchen was silent.
"Her name was Isabella."
He looked at Camila.
"She disappeared when she was only nine months old."
Valeria frowned.
"Disappeared?"
"We were attacked on the highway. There was a car accident. My wife died."
His voice broke.
"The police told me my daughter had also died."
He paused.
"But I never saw her body."
Nobody spoke.
"I spent years searching for her."
He looked at Camila again.
"And now your husband tells me she's alive."
Valeria's breathing became uneven.
"No... this doesn't make sense."
"It doesn't?" Ricardo replied. "Then explain why your husband knew my daughter's name."
She couldn't.
Because she didn't know.
Because suddenly, there were too many things she couldn't explain.
The missing baby pictures.
The strange documents.
The fact that Mauricio had always refused to talk about Camila's birth.
Even their wedding photos were gone.
He had once claimed they were lost because his laptop had crashed.
At the time, she believed him.
Now...
Everything felt like a lie.
"Mommy..."
Camila looked up at her with frightened eyes.
"Am I... not your daughter?"
The question shattered her heart.
Valeria immediately knelt and pulled the little girl into her arms.
"You are my daughter."
"But he says—"
"I don't care what he says."
Tears filled her eyes.
"I raised you. I fed you. I held you when you were sick. I am your mother."
Camila started crying.
"So you're not leaving me?"
Valeria hugged her tighter.
"Never."
For the first time since entering the house, Ricardo lowered his gun.
He watched them in silence.
Then he said something unexpected.
"I hope you're right."
Valeria looked up.
"What?"
"Because if Mauricio lied to you... then he stole six years of my life."
Before she could answer—
BZZZ.
Her phone vibrated again.
An unknown number.
She hesitated.
Then answered.
"Hello?"
Heavy breathing came from the other side.
Then—
"Valeria."
It was Mauricio.
But he sounded terrified.
"Listen to me carefully. You have to leave the house now."
"Tell me the truth!" she shouted.
A pause.
"What truth?"
"Who is Camila?"
Silence.
A long, terrible silence.
"Mauricio?"
Finally, he spoke.
"There's no time."
"Who is she?!"
She heard him take a deep breath.
Then—
"She's yours."
Valeria frowned.
"What?"
"She's your daughter."
Tears filled her eyes.
"Then why are there no pictures? Why don't I remember giving birth?"
More silence.
And then Mauricio said the impossible.
"Because you lost your memory."
The kitchen became completely still.
"What?"
"The car accident six years ago... you don't remember it."
Her heart stopped.
"What accident?"
"You were in the car."
"No..."
"You suffered a head injury."
"No."
"The doctors said you might never recover your memories."
Valeria felt dizzy.
No.
No, that wasn't possible.
She would remember something like that.
Wouldn't she?
"Mauricio... what are you talking about?"
"I've been trying to protect you."
"Protect me from what?"
A noise interrupted him.
A car door slammed somewhere outside.
Mauricio's breathing changed.
"They found me."
"Who found you?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he said:
"In the blue folder you took from the kitchen..."
Valeria looked toward the counter.
"...there's a hidden compartment."
Her eyes widened.
"What?"
"Open it."
With trembling hands, she grabbed the folder.
There was a zipper she had never noticed before.
Inside...
was a photograph.
She stared at it.
And stopped breathing.
It showed her.
Younger.
Lying in a hospital bed.
Holding a newborn baby.
A baby with tiny dark eyes.
Camila.
The date on the photograph was six years ago.
Tears streamed down her face.
"No..."
Another picture.
Her pregnant.
Another.
Her and Mauricio decorating a nursery.
Another.
Her smiling beside a hospital crib.
Dozens of photos.
Proof.
Proof that she had given birth.
Proof that she had forgotten.
Her legs gave out.
She collapsed into a chair.
"I... I don't remember any of this..."
On the phone, Mauricio was crying.
"I know."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because the doctor said forcing your memories could hurt you."
Valeria covered her mouth.
Then she noticed something else inside the folder.
A sealed envelope.
Her name was written on it.
She opened it.
Inside was a medical report.
Patient Name: Valeria Méndez.
Diagnosis:
Post-traumatic amnesia caused by severe head injury after a vehicle accident.
She couldn't breathe.
It was true.
All of it.
But then...
another page slipped out.
This one wasn't a medical report.
It was a newspaper clipping.
The headline read:
BUSINESSMAN'S WIFE KILLED IN HIGHWAY ATTACK – INFANT DAUGHTER MISSING.
A photograph accompanied the article.
A smiling woman.
A baby in her arms.
And standing beside them...
was Ricardo.
Valeria looked at the baby.
Then slowly at Camila.
Then back at the newspaper.
Her blood turned cold.
The baby looked exactly like her daughter.
Exactly.
The same eyes.
The same smile.
The same tiny dimple on the left cheek.
Her hands began to shake.
She looked at Ricardo.
He looked back at her.
Neither of them spoke.
Finally, she whispered:
"Then... who is this child?"
Before anyone could answer—
BANG!
A gunshot exploded outside.
Everyone jumped.
Another shot.
Then screaming.
A third shot.
And suddenly, Mauricio's terrified voice came through the phone.
"Run!"
BANG!
The line went dead.
At that exact moment, headlights appeared through the front window.
Three black SUVs had just stopped outside the house.
The doors opened.
Six armed men stepped out.
Ricardo's face turned white.
"No..."
"What is it?" Valeria asked.
He looked at her with horror.
"They found us."
"Who?"
He picked up his gun.
And whispered:
May you like
"The men who really took my daughter."
TO BE CONTINUED...
