CHAPTER 4 "Your Grandfather Didn't Die Naturally." The Stranger's Next Words Shattered Everything Valeria Believed
The apartment fell into complete silence.
Valeria slowly looked toward Elena.
Neither woman spoke.
The security guard's voice still echoed through the intercom.
"He says Mr. Villalobos wasn't supposed to die."
Elena tightened her grip on the receiver.
"Did he give his name?"
A short pause.
"Yes."
"He says his name is Ricardo Salazar."
Valeria frowned.
The name meant nothing to her.
But Elena's face changed instantly.
Her eyes widened.
Then, for the first time since leaving the mansion...
She looked genuinely afraid.
"You know him?"
Valeria whispered.
Elena nodded slowly.
"I thought he disappeared."
"Who is he?"
"He was your grandfather's head of security for nearly twenty years."
Valeria blinked.
"My grandfather had a head of security?"
"He never told you because he wanted you to have a normal childhood."
Elena pressed the intercom again.
"Send him upstairs."
Three long minutes passed.
No one moved.
Valeria could hear only the ticking of the antique clock in the living room.
Every second felt heavier than the last.
Finally...
The elevator doors opened.
A tall man in his early sixties stepped into the hallway.
His gray suit looked worn.
His left hand carried an old leather briefcase.
Across his forehead stretched a faded scar.
He walked with the alertness of someone who had spent a lifetime expecting danger.
The moment he entered the apartment...
He locked the door behind him.
Then closed every curtain.
Only after checking every window did he speak.
"They're watching."
Valeria's heartbeat accelerated.
"Who's watching?"
Ricardo looked directly into her eyes.
"The people who wanted your grandfather's files."
He placed the weathered briefcase on the dining table.
"I've been hiding for seven months."
Valeria stared.
"Since Grandpa died?"
Ricardo nodded.
"No."
"Since the night before he died."
The room grew colder.
Elena folded her arms.
"You told me he died peacefully."
"I repeated what everyone else was told."
Ricardo slowly opened the briefcase.
Inside were dozens of folders.
Old photographs.
USB drives.
Bank records.
Handwritten notebooks.
Everything carefully organized.
"I couldn't come forward sooner."
"Why not?" Valeria asked.
"Because I didn't know who I could trust."
He pulled out a photograph.
Valeria immediately recognized the room.
Her grandfather's private study.
But something was different.
A date printed in the corner caught her attention.
Three days before his death.
Grandpa looked healthy.
He was smiling.
Standing beside him...
Was Ricardo.
And another man Valeria had never seen before.
"Who's that?"
Ricardo inhaled deeply.
"Your grandfather's forensic accountant."
"What happened to him?"
Ricardo remained silent.
Valeria repeated the question.
"What happened?"
"He disappeared."
Another photograph.
Another face.
"This woman?"
"The private investigator your grandfather hired."
"And?"
"She resigned."
"When?"
"The day after your grandfather died."
"Did anyone hear from her again?"
"No."
A knot formed in Valeria's stomach.
One by one...
Everyone investigating the truth had vanished.
Ricardo opened a thick blue folder.
"This is why I came."
Inside were photocopies of financial transfers.
Company registrations.
Property records.
Loan agreements.
Each page connected Arturo Castañeda to shell companies scattered across different states.
Valeria looked confused.
"My father owns all these businesses?"
Ricardo shook his head.
"No."
"He controlled them."
"What's the difference?"
"They belonged to other people."
Elena carefully examined the documents.
Then her expression darkened.
"Oh my God..."
Valeria looked at her.
"What?"
"Some of these signatures..."
"They're forged."
Ricardo nodded.
"Your grandfather discovered millions of dollars moving through companies that officially didn't exist."
Valeria stared at the pages.
"My father committed fraud?"
Ricardo didn't answer immediately.
Instead...
He handed her another envelope.
Across the front was written:
Evidence Package A
Inside lay a single photograph.
The image stole the air from her lungs.
Her father...
Standing beside a man she instantly recognized from television.
A notorious financier who had been arrested years earlier for running a massive investment fraud.
Valeria whispered,
"How...?"
"My grandfather found that picture six months before he died."
Suddenly...
A loud vibration echoed from the coffee table.
Valeria's phone.
Another message from her father.
She ignored it.
Then another arrived.
And another.
Finally...
One message appeared that made her blood run cold.
Open the wooden box Grandpa gave you. Right now.
Valeria froze.
She had never told anyone she still had that box.
Not even Elena.
Slowly...
She looked toward Ricardo.
"I never mentioned the box."
Ricardo's face became deadly serious.
"Then your father shouldn't know it exists."
A heavy silence filled the apartment.
Valeria slowly walked to her suitcase.
She removed the small carved wooden box her grandfather had left her.
The box looked ordinary.
Dark walnut.
Brass hinges.
No lock.
No markings.
She placed it on the table.
"What is it?"
Ricardo answered quietly.
"I don't know."
"Your grandfather never let anyone touch it."
Valeria carefully lifted the lid.
Inside...
There was no jewelry.
No money.
No documents.
Only an old silver pocket watch.
A faded family photograph.
And a folded note.
She unfolded it.
Only one sentence was written inside.
Turn the watch over.
Her fingers trembled as she picked it up.
The back of the watch carried an engraving she had never noticed.
Truth is hidden where time stops.
"What does that mean?"
Before anyone could answer...
Ricardo gently pressed the crown of the watch.
Nothing happened.
He turned it clockwise twice.
A tiny metallic click echoed through the room.
The back cover popped open.
Valeria gasped.
Hidden inside the watch...
Was a miniature memory card.
Far too modern to belong inside an antique watch.
Ricardo carefully removed it.
"He was smarter than all of us."
Elena inserted the memory card into the laptop.
A single encrypted folder appeared.
The title read:
IF YOU HAVE FOUND THIS... THEY ARE ALREADY DESPERATE.
The folder requested a password.
Valeria looked helpless.
"I don't know it."
Ricardo smiled faintly.
"I think I do."
He typed four words.
My Little Star
The folder unlocked instantly.
Dozens of hidden video files appeared.
At the top...
One recording stood out.
Its title made every person in the room stop breathing.
THE PERSON WHO BETRAYED ME IS...
Valeria slowly reached for the mouse.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
She clicked the file.
The screen turned black.
Then her grandfather appeared.
He looked exhausted.
Older.
As if he hadn't slept for days.
He leaned toward the camera.
His first sentence made Valeria's entire world collapse.
"If you're watching this... the person who betrayed me was never the one I feared most."
The video continued...
But before he could reveal the name...
The apartment lights suddenly went out.
Everything went dark.
At the exact same moment...
Someone pounded violently on the apartment door.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
A deep male voice shouted from the hallway:
"Open the door! Police!"
Ricardo's face turned pale.
He whispered only four words.
May you like
"They found us already."
END OF CHAPTER 4...
