CHAPTER 3: THE LETTER FROM THE GRAVE
The morning after Doña Rebeca's arrest, the entire city was talking about the Ibarra family.
Television reporters crowded outside the courthouse.
Newspapers called it the scandal of the decade.
But inside the hospital room, none of that mattered.
Mariela sat beside the window, holding her newborn son.
For the first time in months, she felt safe.
Then someone knocked on the door.
A nurse stepped inside.
"Mrs. Torres, there's a man asking to see you."
Mariela frowned.
"I don't know anyone here."
The nurse looked uncertain.
"He says it's important."
A few seconds later, an elderly man entered.
He wore an old gray suit and carried a leather briefcase.
His hair was completely white.
But his eyes were kind.
He looked directly at the baby.
And then he began to cry.
Mariela became nervous.
"Sir... are you okay?"
The man nodded slowly.
"I've waited thirty years for this moment."
Dr. Ernesto, who was still in the room, suddenly stood up.
"Tomás?"
The old man looked at him.
"Hello, Ernesto."
The doctor looked shocked.
"I thought you moved away."
"I did."
Silence filled the room.
Finally, Tomás turned toward Mariela.
"My name is Tomás Herrera."
He swallowed hard.
"I was Elena Morales's brother."
The room froze.
Sebastián, who had returned that morning, looked up in disbelief.
"My... mother's brother?"
Tomás nodded.
"Yes."
Sebastián's eyes filled with tears.
"I have an uncle?"
"You do."
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Tomás slowly opened his briefcase.
Inside was a small wooden box.
"I kept this for thirty years."
He placed it on the bed.
"It belonged to Elena."
With trembling hands, he opened it.
Inside were photographs.
A silver necklace.
And a sealed letter.
The envelope had only three words written on it:
For My Son.
Sebastián's hands began shaking.
"My mother wrote this?"
Tomás nodded.
"She wrote it one week before you were born."
Tears streamed down Sebastián's face as he opened the letter.
The handwriting was beautiful.
He began to read.
My little boy,
I don't know if I will ever get the chance to hold you in my arms.
The world is complicated, and powerful people are angry that you exist.
But I want you to know one thing.
You were created from love.
Your father loves you.
And I already love you more than my own life.
If someday we are separated, never believe that you were abandoned.
I would cross every ocean just to see your face.
I would give everything just to hear you call me Mother.
And if you ever become a father yourself...
Love your child with all your heart.
Do not let pride steal your family away.
Because love is the only thing that truly remains.
Forever yours,
Your mother, Elena Morales.
By the time he finished reading, Sebastián could no longer stop crying.
Thirty years.
Thirty years without knowing who he really was.
Thirty years without hearing his mother's voice.
Tomás gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
"She never stopped loving you."
Sebastián looked up.
"Did she know she was going to die?"
The old man lowered his eyes.
"No."
Silence.
Then Dr. Ernesto spoke.
"There is something else you should know."
Everyone looked at him.
"The night Elena died..."
He paused.
"...she didn't die naturally."
Mariela's eyes widened.
"What do you mean?"
Ernesto's expression darkened.
"I always suspected something was wrong."
Tomás nodded slowly.
"I suspected it too."
The doctor took a deep breath.
"Elena was healthy. The delivery was difficult, but she should have survived."
"Then what happened?" Sebastián asked.
Ernesto looked at him.
"Someone switched her medication."
The room went completely silent.
"No..." Sebastián whispered.
"She was poisoned."
Mariela covered her mouth.
Tomás closed his eyes.
"I knew it."
Sebastián stood up.
"Who did it?"
Nobody answered.
But everyone already knew.
Slowly, he turned toward the door.
Toward the city.
Toward the prison where Doña Rebeca was being held.
"No..." he whispered.
Tears rolled down his face.
"She murdered my mother."
At that exact moment, his phone rang.
It was Camila Ríos.
He answered immediately.
"Camila?"
Her voice sounded urgent.
"Sebastián, listen carefully."
"What happened?"
"The police just searched your mother's office."
"And?"
"They found a diary."
Silence.
"There's a confession."
His heart nearly stopped.
"A confession to what?"
Camila's voice became quiet.
"Everything."
Sebastián closed his eyes.
The truth he had searched for his entire life...
Was finally coming.
He looked at Mariela.
Then at little Mateo sleeping peacefully.
And for the first time, he understood something.
This child had not destroyed his family.
This child had saved him from a lifetime of lies.
Outside the hospital window, the sun slowly rose over Mexico City.
A new day had begun.
But somewhere in a prison cell...
An old woman was about to face the ghosts she had buried for thirty years.
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TO BE CONTINUED...
Chapter 4: Doña Rebeca's confession shocks the entire country, and Sebastián discovers one final secret about his real father that changes everything.
