CHAPTER 3 — THE VIDEO THEY COULDN'T ERASE
Ramiro's face slowly lost all color.
"You... uploaded it?"
Don Ernesto calmly folded his hands across the table.
"I've lived next door for twenty-eight years."
"I've watched children grow up."
"I've watched neighbors celebrate birthdays, weddings, and Christmas dinners."
Then his eyes hardened.
"But today..."
"I watched a grown woman throw boiling coffee into a two-year-old's face."
He gently pushed the envelope of cash back across the table.
"You should use this money for a lawyer."
Ramiro's jaw clenched.
"You don't know who you're dealing with."
The old man smiled.
"No."
"I know exactly who I'm dealing with."
Outside, Ramiro stormed back to his SUV.
His hands shook as he slammed the steering wheel.
For the first time in decades...
Someone had told him "no."
He pulled out his phone.
"Brenda."
His daughter's voice answered immediately.
"Did he sell it?"
"No."
"What?"
"He copied the video."
Silence.
Then Brenda whispered,
"What do we do?"
Ramiro's voice turned icy.
"Before sunrise..."
"...that video disappears."
Across town...
Valeria finally returned to Emilia's hospital room.
The little girl had awakened.
Her face was wrapped in fresh bandages.
One eye barely opened.
When she saw her mother...
she reached out with trembling fingers.
"Mama..."
Valeria took her tiny hand.
"I'm here."
Emilia's lip quivered.
"Did I do bad?"
Those four words shattered every nurse within earshot.
Valeria immediately shook her head.
"No."
"You did absolutely nothing wrong."
"But Aunt Brenda got mad..."
"I touched the truck..."
Valeria kissed her forehead.
"You only touched a toy."
"You are not the one who should be sorry."
Emilia closed her eyes again.
"I don't want Aunt Brenda anymore."
Valeria silently cried.
Neither did she.
The next morning...
Detective Lucía Herrera arrived with another officer.
She carried a folder thick with paperwork.
"We've officially opened a criminal investigation."
Valeria nodded.
"Thank you."
Lucía continued.
"We also received an anonymous message overnight."
She placed a printed photograph on the bed.
It was the same backyard.
The broken mug.
The red toy truck.
Ramiro pointing toward the gate.
At the bottom...
someone had written:
"The security cameras next door recorded everything."
Lucía looked at Valeria.
"Do you know who sent this?"
Valeria thought of Iván.
"I have an idea."
"But I can't risk exposing him yet."
The detective nodded.
"Understood."
Meanwhile...
the Ortega family gathered once again.
No barbecue this time.
No music.
Only fear.
Brenda paced across the living room.
"This is all Valeria's fault!"
Ofelia immediately agreed.
"She always wanted to divide this family."
Mateo sat silently on the couch.
His phone buzzed.
A new photo.
It came from an unknown number.
It showed Emilia lying in her hospital bed.
Her tiny face covered with white bandages.
Attached was only one sentence.
"Look at your daughter before you defend your sister again."
Mateo stared at the image for nearly a minute.
Then quietly stood.
"I'm going to the hospital."
Ramiro blocked the doorway.
"No."
Mateo looked up.
"My daughter needs me."
Ramiro's voice remained calm.
"No."
"Your wife is manipulating you."
"Family stands together."
Mateo had obeyed his father his entire life.
As a child.
As a teenager.
Even after marriage.
But something inside him cracked.
"My daughter..."
"...is my family."
Ramiro stepped closer.
"If you walk out that door..."
"Don't bother coming back."
The room fell silent.
Mateo looked around.
His mother refused to meet his eyes.
Brenda folded her arms.
No one spoke.
Slowly...
Mateo picked up his car keys.
"I should've protected Emilia."
He walked toward the door.
Ramiro shouted behind him.
"If you leave..."
"...you're no longer my son!"
Mateo never turned around.
It was the first order from his father he had ever disobeyed.
At the hospital...
Valeria was surprised to see him standing outside Emilia's room.
He looked exhausted.
His eyes were red.
"I didn't believe you."
His voice broke.
"I'm sorry."
Valeria said nothing.
He handed her his phone.
"I received this."
She looked at Emilia's photo.
Then looked back at him.
"I failed both of you."
For the first time...
Valeria saw genuine regret.
Not excuses.
Not denial.
Just guilt.
"I want to make this right."
Before she could answer...
Detective Herrera walked toward them.
"Mr. Ortega?"
"Yes."
"We need your statement."
Mateo nodded immediately.
"I'll tell you everything."
Across the city...
Iván parked outside Don Ernesto's modest house.
The old man opened the door before he knocked.
"I knew you'd come."
Iván smiled nervously.
"Is the video safe?"
Don Ernesto chuckled.
"Safer than your father thinks."
He invited Iván inside.
On the dining table sat three identical flash drives.
"You made copies?"
"I made six."
Iván couldn't hide his surprise.
The old man pointed toward a shelf filled with old photographs.
"I spent forty years repairing computers."
"I don't trust hard drives."
He opened his laptop.
The security footage played again.
This time...
in perfect quality.
Every second was crystal clear.
Brenda watched Emilia.
Picked up the coffee.
Paused.
Aimed.
Threw.
There was no accident.
No stumble.
No spilled cup.
Even worse...
the camera also captured what happened immediately afterward.
Ramiro walking into the center of the yard.
Pointing toward the gate.
Ordering everyone inside.
The audio was faint...
but one sentence could still be heard.
"Nobody says a word. We all tell the same story."
Iván looked at the screen in disbelief.
"I didn't know the camera had sound."
Don Ernesto smiled.
"It doesn't."
Iván frowned.
"Then where did the audio come from?"
The old man reached into a drawer...
and pulled out something the size of a matchbox.
"A wildlife recorder."
"I installed it months ago."
"For the birds nesting in my garden."
He paused.
"It accidentally recorded your father's conspiracy."
Iván realized the truth.
The evidence wasn't just devastating.
It was overwhelming.
That afternoon...
the prosecutor signed the warrant for Brenda Ortega's arrest.
But before officers could reach the Ortega house...
someone else arrived first.
A black luxury SUV stopped outside the gate.
Two sharply dressed attorneys stepped out.
Behind them...
walked a woman in an expensive navy suit carrying a leather briefcase.
Brenda frowned.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled politely.
"My name is Isabel Moreno."
"I represent your homeowner's insurance company."
Brenda blinked.
"Insurance?"
"Yes."
"We've reviewed your claim."
"What claim?"
"The one your father filed this morning."
Ramiro slowly walked into the hallway.
His expression changed instantly.
"What are you talking about?"
The lawyer opened her briefcase.
"You reported this incident as an accidental spill..."
"...and requested coverage for potential civil damages."
She placed several documents on the table.
"Unfortunately..."
"Our fraud investigation unit has already received surveillance footage showing the event."
Ramiro's heartbeat stopped.
The lawyer looked directly at Brenda.
"Before we continue..."
"I have one question."
She slid a tablet across the table.
The paused video showed Brenda...
holding the steaming mug...
seconds before the attack.
"Would you still like to state..."
"...under oath..."
"...that this was an accident?"
Brenda's hands began to shake.
Because for the first time...
she realized the video wasn't only going to send her to prison.
May you like
It was about to expose every lie her family had ever told.
END OF CHAPTER 3...
