CHAPTER 4: THE GRANDMOTHER WHO BURIED THE TRUTH FOR 24 YEARS
The rain fell harder.
Almost as if the sky itself was mourning everything Renata had just discovered.
She stood frozen in the middle of the abandoned alley, staring at the elderly woman approaching her.
A woman who should not exist.
A woman whose name had disappeared from every story about the Salvatierra family.
Alexander looked like he had seen a ghost.
“Isabel…”
The old woman stopped.
Her eyes moved toward him.
For a moment, there was sadness.
Then disappointment.
“You look exactly like your father, Alejandro.”
Alexander clenched his jaw.
“Don’t call me that.”
The woman’s expression softened.
“After everything that happened… you still blame me.”
Renata looked between them.
“Someone please tell me what is happening.”
Her voice cracked.
Because every answer she received only created ten more questions.
The old woman looked at her.
And tears filled her eyes.
“Renata…”
Hearing her name from a stranger felt more painful than hearing it from anyone else.
“How do you know me?”
The woman slowly approached.
“Because I held you the night you were born.”
Renata stepped back.
“No.”
“Yes.”
The woman touched her chest.
“My name is Isabel Salvatierra.”
A cold silence followed.
Renata felt dizzy.
Another Salvatierra.
Another person connected to a family she had never known existed.
“You’re…”
“Yes.”
The old woman nodded.
“I am your grandmother.”
Twenty-four years.
Twenty-four years of lies.
Twenty-four years of Renata believing she was just a normal girl.
A girl born to a poor mother.
A girl with no family history.
No inheritance.
No past.
But now she stood in front of people who spoke about her blood like it was a weapon.
Like being born had been a crime.
“Why?”
Renata’s voice trembled.
“Why did everyone hide me?”
Nobody answered immediately.
And that silence hurt.
Because silence always meant the truth was worse.
Finally, Isabel spoke.
“Because someone tried to kill you before you were even one year old.”
Renata looked at Mateo.
The man who had been standing quietly.
The man who had never denied anything.
“So it was him?”
Isabel’s eyes moved toward Mateo.
“Yes.”
Mateo laughed.
An empty laugh.
“Still blaming me after all these years?”
Alexander stepped forward.
“You sent men after a baby.”
Mateo looked at him.
“And you protected the baby.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Mateo smiled coldly.
“Because you always wanted to be the hero.”
Alexander’s face hardened.
“No.”
He looked at Renata.
“Because she was innocent.”
For the first time that night…
Renata saw something different in Alexander.
Not fear.
Not guilt.
Regret.
Deep regret.
Isabel slowly walked closer.
“I need to tell you everything.”
Renata looked at her.
“I don’t know if I want to hear it.”
The old woman nodded.
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
Renata’s voice broke.
“You all made decisions for me.”
She pointed toward the restaurant.
“I spent my whole life struggling.”
She looked at Alexander.
“I thought my mother abandoned dreams because of me.”
She looked at Isabel.
“I thought I had nobody.”
A tear fell.
“And all this time…”
She shook her head.
“You knew.”
Nobody spoke.
Because she was right.
They had protected her body.
But they had destroyed her truth.
Isabel took a small box from her coat.
It was old.
Worn.
The edges were damaged.
She handed it to Renata.
“Your mother left this for you.”
Renata stared.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“But she’s…”
She stopped.
She couldn’t even say it.
Dead.
The word felt impossible.
Isabel looked down.
“Your mother is alive.”
The world stopped.
Renata’s lips parted.
“What?”
“She has been alive all these years.”
Renata almost laughed.
A painful laugh.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Everyone told me she died.”
Isabel closed her eyes.
“Because that was the only way to keep you safe.”
Renata opened the box.
Inside was a necklace.
A small silver necklace.
The same one Alexander had shown her earlier.
Her hands shook.
Underneath it was a letter.
Her mother’s handwriting.
The handwriting she recognized instantly.
Renata unfolded it.
The first sentence destroyed her.
"My little Renata, if you are reading this, it means they failed to erase our family."
Her heart stopped.
She continued reading.
"I am sorry I wasn’t there to watch you grow up."
"I am sorry you believed I left you."
"But there was something I had to protect."
Renata wiped her tears.
Then she read the final line.
And everything changed.
"Your father did not disappear."
"Your father was murdered."
Renata looked up.
Slowly.
Her eyes moved toward Sebastián.
The wounded man lying on the ground.
“But he’s alive.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Alexander whispered:
“No…”
His face became pale.
“Sebastián isn’t your father.”
Renata looked confused.
“What?”
Alexander picked up the old phone again.
The photo.
The hospital.
The baby.
The woman.
Something was wrong.
Then he noticed something.
A detail hidden in the corner.
A hospital bracelet.
A name.
He zoomed in.
His hands began shaking.
“Impossible…”
Renata looked at him.
“What does it say?”
Alexander looked at her.
And the fear in his eyes terrified her.
“Your father…”
He swallowed.
“Your real father…”
A pause.
“Wasn’t Sebastián.”
The rain continued falling.
Renata felt the ground disappear beneath her.
“Then who was he?”
Alexander looked toward the road.
At the approaching headlights.
At the person stepping out of the vehicle.
A man in his seventies.
A man whose face appeared on every business magazine in Mexico.
A man who owned half the companies in the country.
A man everyone thought had died ten years ago.
The old man looked directly at Renata.
And whispered:
“My daughter…”
Renata couldn’t move.
Because the impossible truth was standing in front of her.
Her real father was alive.
And he was the most powerful man in Mexico.
But before anyone could say another word…
The old man raised his hand.
And pointed at Alexander.
“Get away from my granddaughter.”
Everyone froze.
Renata looked at Alexander.
Confused.
Afraid.
Then her father said the words that shattered everything:
“Because the man who brought her here…”
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“He is the reason her mother disappeared.”
END OF CHAPTER 4
