CHAPTER 2: THE DAUGHTER WHO WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO EXIST
The sound of the front door breaking echoed through the entire restaurant.
CRASH.
Renata jumped.
Her fingers tightened around the blood-stained document.
For a moment, she forgot how to breathe.
The old wooden tables shook from the impact.
Glass from the entrance window scattered across the floor.
Someone had entered.
Someone who wasn’t afraid of being heard.
Alexander Salvatierra immediately stood up.
Or at least tried to.
His wound nearly made him collapse.
Renata caught him before he hit the ground.
“Don’t move!”
His eyes locked on hers.
“You need to leave.”
She stared at him in disbelief.
“Leave? They’re inside my restaurant!”
“You don’t understand.”
His voice became urgent.
“They are not ordinary criminals.”
Renata looked toward the dining area.
Dark shadows moved between the tables.
Three men.
Maybe four.
All wearing black jackets.
All carrying the same cold expression.
The kind of expression that told her they had done terrible things before.
One of them walked toward the kitchen.
“Alexander!”
The man’s voice echoed.
“We know you’re here.”
Renata’s heart pounded.
How did they know?
How did they find this place?
She looked at Alexander.
“You brought them here.”
The accusation hurt him.
But he didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”
Renata’s face changed.
“You risked my life?”
“No.”
He looked at the two babies sleeping beside him.
“I risked mine.”
That answer confused her.
Before she could respond, one of the men entered the kitchen.
Renata quickly grabbed a tray and pretended to be cleaning.
The man looked around.
His eyes scanned every corner.
“You’re alone?”
Renata forced herself not to shake.
“Yes.”
The man smiled slightly.
A fake smile.
“Strange.”
“What’s strange?”
“This restaurant closed two hours ago.”
Renata froze.
The man took one step closer.
“So why does it smell like fresh blood?”
Her stomach dropped.
She didn’t answer.
The man looked behind her.
Toward the storage room.
Renata’s hand slowly moved toward the knife hidden in her pocket.
Then suddenly…
A baby cried.
A small sound.
Barely audible.
But enough.
The man’s eyes changed.
“There you are.”
He moved forward.
Renata reacted without thinking.
She grabbed a metal pan from the counter and hit the emergency fire alarm.
The restaurant exploded with noise.
Water sprayed from the ceiling.
The lights flickered.
The man cursed.
“What the hell—”
Renata ran.
Not away.
Toward the storage room.
She slammed the door open.
“Can you walk?”
Alexander looked shocked.
“What did you do?”
“I bought us thirty seconds.”
A weak smile appeared on his face.
“You really were training to be a nurse?”
She grabbed his arm.
“No.”
She looked directly at him.
“I was training to save people.”
For a second, Alexander looked at her differently.
Not like a stranger.
Like someone he had been searching for.
They escaped through an old passage behind the storage shelves.
Renata didn’t even know it existed.
Her mother had never mentioned it.
The narrow tunnel smelled like dust and old wood.
Alexander carried the baby girl.
Renata carried the boy.
And despite everything happening around her…
Something felt strangely familiar.
The little boy held her finger tightly.
The same way she remembered holding her mother’s hand when she was a child.
A memory suddenly flashed through her mind.
A woman crying.
A hospital room.
A voice whispering:
"I’m sorry, my baby… I had no choice."
Renata stopped walking.
“What’s wrong?”
Alexander asked.
She looked at him.
“I remember something.”
“What?”
“My mother.”
Alexander became completely still.
“What did you remember?”
Renata frowned.
“I was very young. Maybe three or four years old.”
She touched her forehead.
“There was a man at the hospital.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
“What man?”
“He was wearing a black suit.”
Silence.
Then Alexander whispered:
“My father.”
Renata’s breathing became uneven.
“No…”
“Yes.”
He looked at the baby in his arms.
“My father had another child before me.”
Renata shook her head.
“That’s impossible.”
Alexander’s eyes filled with pain.
“My father’s first daughter disappeared 24 years ago.”
The tunnel became silent.
Rainwater dripped from the ceiling.
Renata felt like the world was collapsing around her.
“You’re saying…”
Alexander looked at her.
“I’m saying you are the secret my family buried.”
They reached the end of the tunnel.
It opened into a small abandoned alley behind the restaurant.
For a moment, they thought they were safe.
Then a voice spoke from the darkness.
“You always were difficult to kill, Alejandro.”
Alexander froze.
Renata turned.
A man stepped forward.
He looked around fifty years old.
Expensive suit.
Perfect hair.
Calm smile.
But his eyes were empty.
Alexander’s face turned pale.
“Mateo.”
The man smiled.
“Brother.”
Renata understood immediately.
This was the person who wanted the babies.
The person who had ordered the attack.
Mateo Salvatierra.
Alexander’s own brother.
Mateo looked at Renata.
Then at the children.
Then back at Alexander.
“I have to admit…”
He laughed softly.
“You surprised me.”
Renata stepped back.
“Why?”
Mateo’s smile disappeared.
“Because after 24 years, I thought the little girl was dead.”
The words hit her like a bullet.
Little girl.
Her.
Alexander moved in front of her.
“You won’t touch her.”
Mateo laughed.
“Look at you.”
He pointed at Alexander.
“The perfect son.”
Then he looked at Renata.
“And the forgotten daughter.”
Renata’s voice trembled.
“Why did you hide me?”
Mateo tilted his head.
“Because your existence threatened everything.”
“What?”
“You were the first child.”
Renata stared at him.
Mateo continued:
“Your grandfather left a condition in his will.”
Alexander’s eyes widened.
“No…”
“Yes.”
Mateo smiled.
“The first Salvatierra child would inherit everything.”
Renata felt dizzy.
The restaurant.
The debts.
The life she thought she knew.
Everything was a lie.
Mateo took a step closer.
“You were supposed to disappear forever.”
Then he looked at the babies.
“And now you have returned at the worst possible time.”
Renata held the baby tighter.
“Why?”
Mateo smiled coldly.
“Because those children are not just babies.”
Alexander’s face changed.
“Don’t.”
But Mateo continued.
“They are the only proof that your father’s empire belongs to someone else.”
A sudden silence fell.
Renata looked at Alexander.
“What is he talking about?”
Alexander looked away.
And that frightened her more than anything.
Because for the first time…
She realized the injured stranger who came to her restaurant wasn’t just hiding a secret.
He was hiding a betrayal.
A betrayal that involved her blood.
Her family.
And the two innocent babies sleeping in her arms.
Mateo pulled out his phone.
“Goodbye, Alejandro.”
He pressed a button.
And from the end of the street…
Multiple headlights appeared.
More cars.
More men.
Renata whispered:
“How many people are coming?”
Alexander looked at her.
His answer was terrifying.
“Enough to erase an entire family.”
Then he grabbed her hand.
“Renata…”
She looked at him.
“Whatever happens next…”
His voice broke.
“Don’t let them take the children.”
“Why?”
Alexander looked into her eyes.
“Because they are the last living Salvatierra heirs.”
A gunshot suddenly exploded through the night.
BANG.
And someone fell.
But it wasn’t Alexander.
It wasn’t Mateo.
It was the person Renata least expected.
The person who knew the truth about her birth all along.
May you like
Her own father.
END OF CHAPTER 2
