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THE BRIDE’S blood-soaked secret: The baby in the rain / Chapter 2 / 6

Chapter 2 - The Whispers of the Dead

“He didn’t go to Europe, Alejandro. He’s under the hacienda.”The revelation hung in the air like a poisonous fog. Valeria stood frozen, her eyes darting around the room like a cornered animal. The glamorous, high-society wedding had transformed into a psychological horror scene.

"This is a conspiracy!" Valeria shrieked, her voice cracking as she tried to maintain her composure. "Alejandro, look at her! She’s a child! She’s being used by our competitors to destroy the merger of our companies! Mateo is in Paris. He called me before he boarded his flight!"

"Then call him," Alejandro said, his voice flat and dangerous. He pulled his phone from his tuxedo pocket and thrust it toward her. "Call him right now, Valeria. Put him on speakerphone. Let us all hear his voice."

Valeria stared at the phone as if it were a venomous snake. She didn't move. Her breathing was shallow, her chest rising and falling rapidly beneath the heavy, glittering fabric of her wedding gown.

"You can't call him," Sofia said softly, her small voice cutting through Valeria’s panic. "Because his phone is in the well. The old well behind the chapel."

Don Roberto, Alejandro’s father, stepped forward, his face turning a dark, dangerous shade of red. He was a man who had built his empire with blood, sweat, and ruthless determination. He did not tolerate threats, and he certainly did not tolerate family betrayal.

"What did you say, child?" Don Roberto demanded, his voice booming.

"My mother, Elena, was the housekeeper at the Villa-Lobos private estate," Sofia explained, holding the baby tighter as it began to cry louder. "Two weeks ago, she went to the estate to beg Valeria for the money for her chemotherapy. She saw them. She saw Valeria and Mateo arguing in the garden. Mateo wanted to tell you the truth, Alejandro. He wanted to tell you that he was the father of Valeria's baby, that they had been having an affair for two years, and that they had used a surrogate to have a secret heir to claim the majority share of the tequila merger."

Alejandro felt a sickening wave of nausea wash over him. He looked at his wife—the woman he had courted for three years, the woman he thought was the epitome of grace and purity. "Is this true? Were you sleeping with my brother?"

"No! It's a lie! A sick, twisted lie!" Valeria screamed, tears finally spilling over her perfectly applied makeup, leaving dark mascara tracks down her cheeks. "Alejandro, I love you! I have only ever loved you!"

"But Mateo wanted to stop the wedding," Sofia continued, her voice unwavering. "He couldn't live with the guilt anymore. He told Valeria he was going to confess to you on the wedding day. My mother saw Valeria get angry. She saw Valeria slip something into Mateo’s drink. Mateo collapsed near the old stone well behind the chapel. And then... Valeria and her driver dragged him."

A horrific realization dawned on Alejandro. The old stone well behind the hacienda’s private chapel had been sealed shut just a week ago, supposedly for 'safety reasons' before the wedding.

"No..." Alejandro whispered, shaking his head. "No, no, no..."

"Yes," Sofia said solemnly. "He is down there. My mother was too afraid to speak because Valeria threatened to kill me if she did. But now my mother is dead. I have nothing left to lose. I only have this baby. And I want the world to know who Valeria really is."

Don Roberto turned to his personal security team, his voice cold as ice. "Go. Take the sledgehammers from the maintenance shed. Break open the seal on the old well. Now."

"Father, no!" Valeria cried, throwing herself at Don Roberto’s feet, her expensive gown dragging through the mud and champagne spills on the floor. "Don't listen to this street brat! She’s trying to destroy us!"

"If there is nothing in the well, Valeria, then you have nothing to fear," Don Roberto said, kicking her hand away with utter disgust.

As the security team rushed out into the pouring rain toward the chapel, a suffocating wait began. No one in the ballroom moved. No one spoke. The only sound was the howling of the wind outside and the soft, pitiful whimpering of the baby in Sofia’s arms.

Alejandro walked slowly toward Sofia. He looked down at the tiny baby. He saw the delicate features—the nose, the shape of the jaw. It was unmistakable. The baby looked exactly like Mateo had when he was an infant.

Suddenly, a loud, frantic scream pierced through the storm outside.

One of the security guards ran back into the ballroom, his face pale, his uniform soaked. He was trembling so hard he could barely speak.

"Don Roberto... Alejandro..." the guard gasped, clutching his chest. "We broke the seal. We lowered the lights."

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The ink on the emergency audit report was barely dry when the secure terminal on my desk flashed a violent crimson. I hadn't slept in thirty-six hours, my eyes burning from staring at columns of ghost figures, duplicate invoices, and shell corporations linked to Dominic Rossi. But the red alert wasn’t from Rossi’s faction. It was an internal security flag originating from the estate’s main vault deep beneath the west wing.

The ink on the emergency audit report was barely dry when the secure ter...

The glass shattered into a thousand tiny diamonds on the marble, scattering the light from the chandeliers. The muffled laughter died instantly, replaced by a suffocating, heavy silence that crept outward from the grand staircase.

The glass shattered into a thousand tiny diamonds on the marble, scatter...

The heavy oak doors of my private study clicked shut behind us, locking out the clinical, terrifying silence of the kitchen. Evelyn Crane stood stiffly in front of my mahogany desk, her hands folded over her apron with the rigid precision of someone who had spent decades micromanaging every square inch of my estate. Behind her, Norah hovered near the doorway, clutching her clipboard like a shield.

The heavy oak doors of my private study clicked shut behind us, locking...

He looked at Valeria with pure horror.

"There’s a body down there. It’s... it’s Master Mateo."

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