CHAPTER 4 — The File They Tried to Erase
"Don't let her get away!"
Detective Sofía Navarro's voice echoed through the hospital hallway.
Two officers sprinted after Beatriz Del Valle as she disappeared around the corner, her designer heels clicking wildly against the polished floor.
She wasn't running like an innocent woman.
She was running like someone who knew exactly where the evidence was hidden.
Mariana kissed Renata's forehead.
"I'll be back."
"No matter what happens..."
"I promise I'm not leaving you alone anymore."
Renata managed a weak nod.
"Be careful, Mom."
Mariana hurried after the officers.
The chase ended in the hospital's underground records department—a place filled with rows of aging shelves, faded folders, and decades of forgotten medical files.
Beatriz was already inside.
She had pulled open a metal cabinet labeled:
MATERNITY RECORDS – 16 YEARS AGO
Her trembling hands searched frantically through hundreds of files.
"No..."
"It has to be here..."
Officer Ruiz stepped forward.
"Mrs. Del Valle, step away from the cabinet."
Instead, Beatriz grabbed a thick brown folder.
The moment she saw the name on its cover, her face turned ghostly white.
She whispered,
"They never destroyed it..."
Without warning, she ripped several pages from the folder.
Then she reached into her handbag, pulled out a silver lighter, and struck the flame.
Mariana lunged.
"NO!"
The burning papers fell onto the tiled floor.
Within seconds, smoke filled the room.
An officer stamped out the fire with his jacket while another wrestled the folder away from Beatriz.
Several pages had burned.
But not all of them.
Detective Navarro carefully gathered the surviving documents.
One page caught her attention immediately.
Patient Name: Mariana Alcázar
Below it was a handwritten note.
Infant temporarily removed from nursery at 2:14 a.m.
Returned at 2:37 a.m.
No explanation.
No doctor's signature.
No nurse's initials.
Twenty-three missing minutes.
Mariana stared at the paper.
"My baby..."
"They took my baby."
Another surviving page slipped from the damaged folder.
This one wasn't a medical record.
It was a payment authorization.
A transfer for five million pesos.
The recipient's name had been burned away.
But the sender remained perfectly visible.
Del Valle Family Foundation.
The room fell silent.
Detective Navarro slowly raised her eyes toward Beatriz.
"Why would your family's foundation send millions to this hospital on the exact day Renata was born?"
Beatriz didn't answer.
She simply stared at the half-burned document.
Then, quietly...
She began to cry.
Not out of guilt.
Out of fear.
Meanwhile, upstairs...
Octavio sat alone in a police interview room.
His expensive watch had been confiscated.
His phone was gone.
Yet somehow...
He smiled.
Officer Morales frowned.
"You're facing decades in prison."
"You don't seem very worried."
Octavio leaned back in his chair.
"You think this investigation is about child abuse."
"It isn't."
"It's about something much bigger."
"What do you mean?"
Octavio looked directly into the security camera mounted on the wall.
"They're already too late."
At that exact moment...
A loud alarm echoed throughout San Gabriel Hospital.
Emergency lockdown activated.
Every electronic door slammed shut.
Doctors looked around in confusion.
Patients froze.
Nurses stopped in their tracks.
Inside Renata's room...
The lights suddenly flickered.
The heart monitor briefly lost power.
Then...
A man wearing blue surgical scrubs quietly walked in, pushing a medication cart.
His face was hidden behind a mask and protective glasses.
He smiled gently at Renata.
"Good evening."
"I'm here to change your medication."
Renata frowned.
"I've never seen you before."
The man locked the hospital room door from the inside.
Then he slowly removed a syringe from his pocket.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"That's because..."
"...I'm not here to help you."
At that exact moment, Mariana stepped out of the elevator and saw the door to Renata's room slowly closing.
Something felt horribly wrong.
She started running.
Inside the room...
May you like
The masked man raised the syringe.
And Renata screamed.
