CHAPTER 4: THE SECRET HER FATHER HID FOR 28 YEARS FINALLY CAME TO LIGHT
The words repeated inside Elena’s mind.
“Your father’s death wasn’t an accident.”
For hours, she had heard nothing else.
Not the reporters outside the building.
Not the employees whispering in the hallways.
Not even Teresa calling her name.
Everything had become distant.
Because for twenty-eight years, Elena had lived with one painful truth:
Her father was gone.
But she had never questioned how.
The doctors said his heart failed.
The family accepted it.
The funeral happened.
The company continued.
Life moved forward.
Or at least…
That was what everyone wanted her to believe.
Inside her father’s old office, Elena stood completely still.
Nothing had changed.
The wooden desk.
The shelves filled with old business books.
The framed photos.
The small model of the first Novatek factory.
Her father’s presence was everywhere.
She slowly touched the desk.
The same desk where Julián Alcázar had spent thousands of nights building an empire from nothing.
“Dad…”
Her voice broke.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Teresa stood behind her.
She had known Elena since she was a child.
She had seen her grow up.
She had watched her lose her father.
And now she was watching her discover that the story she had been told might have been a lie.
“Elena…”
Teresa hesitated.
“There is something I should have given you years ago.”
Elena turned.
“What?”
Teresa reached into her handbag and removed a small envelope.
Old.
Yellowed.
Sealed.
Elena recognized the handwriting immediately.
Her father’s.
Her heart stopped.
“Where did you get that?”
“Your father gave it to me two days before he died.”
Elena stared at the envelope.
“Why didn’t you give it to me?”
Teresa looked down.
“Because he told me not to.”
The room became silent.
Elena slowly opened the envelope.
Inside was a single letter.
Her father’s handwriting filled the page.
My dear Elena,
If you are reading this, then something has happened that I hoped would never happen.
Her hands began shaking.
She continued.
The greatest danger to Novatek will never come from competitors. It will come from people who know exactly where we are vulnerable.
Elena swallowed.
The words felt like they had been written yesterday.
Never trust someone simply because they have stood beside you for many years. Sometimes, the person closest to the door is the one who lets the enemy inside.
Teresa watched Elena’s expression change.
“What else does it say?”
Elena kept reading.
Then she stopped.
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
Teresa stepped closer.
“Elena?”
She looked up.
“My father knew.”
“Knew what?”
“He knew someone wanted control of Novatek.”
The letter revealed something shocking.
Months before his death, Julián had discovered irregular financial activity.
Small amounts at first.
Payments hidden.
Contracts modified.
Accounts transferred.
Nothing large enough to attract attention.
But enough to reveal a pattern.
Someone inside the company was slowly preparing to take control.
And Julián had a suspect.
A person he trusted.
A person who had been with him since the beginning.
Elena looked at Teresa.
“Who was it?”
Teresa hesitated.
“Elena…”
“Who?”
Teresa took a deep breath.
“Your father never wrote the name.”
“Why?”
“Because he was afraid.”
That answer shocked Elena.
Her father was not a man who feared anything.
He had built an empire from nothing.
He faced bankruptcy.
He faced people who mocked him.
He faced impossible situations.
But now Teresa was saying…
He was afraid of someone.
Then Elena noticed something strange.
A second page was attached behind the letter.
But it wasn’t a letter.
It was a photograph.
An old photograph from Novatek’s first years.
Her father.
Teresa.
Several employees.
And one more person.
Elena froze.
Because she knew that face.
She had seen it earlier that day.
In the boardroom.
The person standing beside Adrián.
The person who had betrayed her.
Verónica Salas.
“No…”
The word escaped Elena’s lips.
Teresa looked at her.
“You recognize her?”
Elena slowly nodded.
“She was there.”
“Where?”
“With Adrián.”
Teresa’s face changed.
“Then it’s worse than we thought.”
Suddenly, Elena’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
But something made her answer.
“Hello?”
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Only breathing.
Then a voice whispered:
“Elena Alcázar…”
Her body went cold.
“Who is this?”
“You need to stop investigating your father’s death.”
Elena stood straighter.
“Who are you?”
A pause.
Then:
“Someone who knows what happened that night.”
Her grip tightened around the phone.
“What night?”
The voice became quieter.
“The night your father died.”
Teresa immediately moved closer.
“Put it on speaker.”
Elena did.
The voice continued.
“Your father didn’t die because of his heart.”
Silence.
“He was poisoned.”
Elena felt the world disappear.
“No…”
“Yes.”
The stranger continued.
“And the person responsible is still close to you.”
Elena looked around the room.
Her father’s office suddenly felt different.
Dangerous.
“Who are you?” Elena demanded.
The caller ignored the question.
“You need to find the hidden compartment in your father’s desk.”
Elena looked at the desk.
“What compartment?”
“The one he built himself.”
The line went silent.
Then the final words came:
“Inside it is the proof that will destroy the person who betrayed your family.”
The call ended.
For several seconds, neither Elena nor Teresa moved.
Then Elena walked toward the old desk.
Her fingers searched beneath the wooden surface.
Nothing.
She checked the drawers.
Nothing.
Then she remembered something her father used to say when she was little.
“The most important things are usually hidden where nobody thinks to look.”
She touched the bottom panel.
A small click sounded.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a black folder.
And on top of it…
A name.
Written in her father’s handwriting.
Elena picked up the folder.
Her hands trembled.
Because the name on the cover belonged to someone she trusted her entire life.
Someone she had never imagined could be connected to her father’s death.
She opened the folder.
The first document made her lose her breath.
It was a DNA report.
A birth certificate.
And a photograph.
Elena looked at the image.
Then at the name.
Her face turned pale.
Because the truth was impossible.
The person who had been hiding the secret for 28 years…
Was not an enemy.
Was not a business rival.
May you like
It was someone from her own family.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Chapter 5: The Family Secret — Elena Discovers the Truth That Changes Everything About Her Father’s Legacy
