CHAPTER 4 — THE DNA REPORT THAT TURNED AN ENTIRE FAMILY INTO STRANGERS
The silence lasted only three seconds.
Then everything exploded.
"What are you talking about?" Valeria cried, her voice cracking as the pain from her burns mixed with terror.
She looked at her father.
"No more secrets."
"Not today."
"Tell me the truth."
Arturo Moreno stood motionless.
The confident businessman who had survived assassination attempts, years in hiding, and countless betrayals suddenly looked like a broken old man.
His eyes filled with tears.
"I wanted to tell you..."
"...every single day."
Valeria shook her head.
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because I promised your mother."
Detective Herrera stepped forward.
"Mr. Moreno, if this information is connected to ongoing criminal activity, you need to tell us now."
Arturo slowly nodded.
"It is."
He looked toward Andrés.
"But not in the way he thinks."
Andrés smiled.
"You've spent six years protecting that secret."
"I've spent six years trying to uncover it."
Socorro suddenly grabbed her son's arm.
"Enough."
"We're leaving."
Two detectives immediately blocked the hospital door.
"No one leaves."
Socorro glared at them.
"You have no warrant."
"We do now."
One detective held up his phone.
"Attempted murder."
"Evidence tampering."
"Financial fraud."
"And conspiracy."
The smile disappeared from Socorro's face.
Arturo reached inside his jacket.
Every detective tensed.
Slowly...
He removed a small velvet pouch.
Inside was an old silver locket.
Valeria recognized it instantly.
Her mother had worn it every day until the week she died.
"I haven't seen that since the funeral..."
Arturo gently opened the locket.
Inside were two tiny photographs.
One showed Valeria as a newborn.
The other...
Made her blood run cold.
Another baby.
A little girl who looked almost identical to her.
Same tiny nose.
Same dark hair.
Same birthmark above the eyebrow.
Valeria whispered,
"Who is she?"
Arturo closed his eyes.
"Her name..."
"...was Isabella."
Renata frowned.
"Uncle..."
"You told everyone Aunt Teresa only had one child."
Arturo nodded slowly.
"That's because..."
"There were two."
The room became perfectly still.
Valeria couldn't breathe.
"I had..."
"...a twin?"
Arturo's shoulders slumped.
"Yes."
"You were born seven minutes apart."
Tears rolled down Valeria's face.
"What happened to her?"
No one answered.
Until Andrés did.
"I'll tell you."
Everyone turned toward him.
His smile returned.
"She didn't die."
Arturo's head snapped toward him.
"Stop."
"You've lied enough."
Andrés ignored him.
"The hospital fire everyone remembers..."
"...wasn't an accident."
Renata stared in disbelief.
"The neonatal fire?"
Andrés nodded.
"Someone used it."
"As cover."
Detective Herrera narrowed his eyes.
"What exactly are you saying?"
Andrés leaned against the wall.
"Two babies disappeared that night."
"Only one was officially reported."
Arturo shouted,
"Enough!"
The detectives immediately restrained him, thinking he was charging at Andrés.
"No!"
Arturo yelled.
"Don't let him keep talking!"
But Andrés was enjoying every second.
"You've all been chasing money."
"You should've been chasing children."
Valeria's heart pounded wildly.
"My sister..."
"...is alive?"
Arturo looked devastated.
"I don't know."
"I searched for years."
"We hired investigators across Mexico."
"We never found her."
Laura Castañeda, the family attorney, suddenly spoke.
"There was one more reason your father created the inheritance clause."
Everyone looked at her.
"He believed..."
"...that if your sister was still alive..."
"...she would someday come looking for the truth."
Valeria felt dizzy.
Everything she believed about her life was falling apart.
She had lost her mother.
Buried her father.
Survived years of abuse.
Discovered her marriage had been planned.
And now...
She might have a twin sister.
Just then, one of the detectives received a phone call.
He answered quietly.
His expression changed almost immediately.
"What?"
He turned toward Herrera.
"Sir..."
"The forensic lab rushed the DNA comparison."
Herrera frowned.
"What comparison?"
"The blood found on the kitchen floor."
"And?"
The detective swallowed.
"It doesn't match only Mrs. Moreno."
Everyone stared.
"What do you mean?"
"There was a second person's blood mixed with hers."
Socorro frowned.
"That's impossible."
The detective slowly continued.
"The strange part is..."
"...the second DNA sample belongs to a close biological relative."
Valeria looked at Arturo.
"My father?"
The detective slowly shook his head.
"No."
He looked directly at the report in his hands.
"The probability is over 99.99%."
Renata whispered,
"Who is it?"
The detective looked up.
"It belongs..."
"...to a full sibling."
The room erupted.
Valeria's hands began trembling uncontrollably.
"A full sibling?"
"But..."
"We just said nobody knows where my sister is."
The detective nodded.
"Exactly."
He took a slow breath.
"Which means one thing."
Everyone waited.
He lifted another page from the report.
"The second DNA sample was fresh."
"It was left in your kitchen..."
"...the same night you were attacked."
A chill swept through the room.
Someone related to Valeria by blood...
Had been inside the house.
Only hours earlier.
Without anyone knowing.
Before anyone could speak again, a nurse burst through the door.
"Detective!"
"We've got a problem."
"What happened?"
"The hospital security office just called."
"What about it?"
The nurse's face turned pale.
"The woman seen leaving the Moreno residence right before the attack..."
"...has just entered this hospital."
Detective Herrera reached for his radio.
"Where is she?"
The nurse answered in a trembling voice.
"She's already on this floor."
At that exact moment...
Three slow knocks echoed against Valeria's hospital room door.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
A woman's voice came from the hallway.
Soft.
Calm.
Almost identical to Valeria's.
May you like
"I'm looking for my sister."
END OF CHAPTER 4
