🚨 PART 4 – "YOUR TWIN BROTHER IS COMING TO KILL YOU"
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
"Tomorrow… he's coming here to kill you."
Valeria felt her knees weaken.
"My brother… wants me dead?"
Don Ricardo smiled.
"Oh, no. He doesn't want to kill you."
He took another step forward.
"He simply doesn't know who you are."
Mariana's face was white with terror.
"What have you done to him?" she whispered.
The old man laughed.
"What I had to do."
He looked at Valeria.
"I raised him. Fed him. Protected him."
"You stole him!" Mariana shouted.
"Perhaps."
He shrugged.
"But to Mateo, I'm his father."
Silence.
"And to him…" Don Ricardo continued, "...you are the enemy."
Valeria's heart pounded painfully.
Why?
Why would her own brother hate her?
As if reading her mind, the old man answered.
"Because for twenty-three years, I've told him one story."
His smile widened.
"I told him that his sister died in the accident… because your family abandoned him."
Mariana gasped.
"No…"
"I told him that the people responsible for his suffering were still alive."
"You monster," Ernesto whispered.
Don Ricardo ignored him.
"And now Mateo believes he's coming here to avenge his family."
Tears filled Valeria's eyes.
A brother she had never met…
already hated her.
Already wanted her dead.
"Why are you telling us this?" she whispered.
The old man looked amused.
"Because I enjoy watching the truth destroy people."
Then his expression suddenly changed.
"Also because I need something."
He looked at Mariana.
"The key."
"I don't have it."
"Wrong answer."
"I swear!"
He stepped closer.
"You always were a terrible liar."
Suddenly, Diego spoke.
"Leave my mom alone."
Everyone looked at the boy.
Despite his pale face and weak body, he stared directly at Don Ricardo.
The old man smiled.
"Ah… the sick child."
Diego clenched his fists.
"You ruined our lives."
Don Ricardo crouched in front of him.
"And what are you going to do about it?"
The teenager's voice trembled.
"Everything."
For the first time, the old man's smile faded.
He stood.
"Be careful, boy. You don't have much time left."
Mariana pulled Diego back.
"Don't talk to him."
Don Ricardo adjusted his coat.
"I'll return tomorrow."
He looked at Valeria one last time.
"And when Mateo arrives…"
he smiled coldly,
"...don't tell him the truth."
"What?"
"If he discovers who he really is, he'll break."
Silence.
"Some people are happier living a lie."
With that, he turned and walked toward the door.
But before leaving, he stopped.
Without looking back, he said:
"Oh… one more thing."
He slowly turned his head.
"The key has always been closer than you think."
Then he left.
The door closed.
And silence swallowed the house.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Finally, Valeria sat down.
Her hands were shaking.
A brother.
A twin.
A stranger.
A killer.
It was too much.
Mariana knelt beside her.
"I'm so sorry."
Valeria looked at her.
Twelve years of hatred burned inside her.
But for the first time…
she also saw pain.
Real pain.
"You should have come back," Valeria whispered.
Mariana burst into tears.
"I know."
"You should have looked for me."
"I know."
"You let me believe you abandoned me."
Mariana couldn't answer.
Because she had.
Even if she thought Valeria was dead…
she had stayed away.
For twelve years.
The silence between them was unbearable.
Then Diego suddenly coughed.
Once.
Twice.
Then blood appeared on his hand.
"Diego!" Mariana cried.
The boy collapsed.
Ernesto rushed forward.
Valeria's instincts took over.
"Call an ambulance!"
An hour later, they were in the hospital.
Doctors ran through the hallways.
Machines beeped.
Mariana sat outside the emergency room, trembling.
Valeria stood beside the window.
Neither of them spoke.
Finally, the doctor came out.
His face was serious.
"I'm sorry."
Mariana stood.
"Please…"
The doctor sighed.
"Your son's heart is failing much faster than we expected."
She began crying.
"How long?"
The doctor hesitated.
Then quietly answered:
"A few weeks."
The world stopped.
Mariana collapsed into a chair.
No mother should ever hear those words.
Valeria looked away, tears filling her eyes.
She barely knew Diego anymore.
Yet the thought of losing him felt unbearable.
Then the doctor added something unexpected.
"There may be one option."
Everyone looked up.
"A transplant."
Hope flashed across Mariana's face.
"But we need a compatible donor immediately."
Silence.
The doctor looked at his file.
Then frowned.
"This is strange."
"What?" Valeria asked.
The doctor looked confused.
"The boy's blood type is extremely rare."
Mariana's face changed.
She knew that blood type.
She remembered it.
The same one…
the same one listed in the adoption papers.
The same one…
belonging to—
"No…" she whispered.
The doctor looked at her.
"What is it?"
Mariana slowly turned toward Valeria.
Her hands shook.
Tears filled her eyes.
Then she whispered the words that froze everyone.
"Diego isn't my biological son."
Silence.
The doctor blinked.
"What?"
Mariana covered her mouth.
"Oh, my God…"
Valeria stared at her.
"What did you just say?"
Mariana looked completely broken.
Then, through tears, she whispered:
"The baby I carried out of the earthquake that day…"
she looked at Valeria,
"...wasn't Diego."
The hallway fell silent.
Every heartbeat seemed to stop.
Then Mariana said the impossible.
"I think…"
her voice cracked,
May you like
"...I may have taken the wrong child."
TO BE CONTINUED… 🔥🔥🔥
