CHAPTER 3 — The Locked Room Hid More Than Memories
Alejandro did not blink.
The surveillance footage played again.
And again.
And again.
At exactly 2:17 a.m., the shadow approached the locked room.
The figure glanced over one shoulder.
Pulled out a key.
Unlocked the door.
Disappeared inside.
Seven minutes later...
The same person emerged carrying something small beneath a dark coat.
Then quietly locked the room again.
Alejandro paused the image.
The camera angle never revealed the face.
But the emerald-green high heels...
The designer handbag...
And the unmistakable Italian leather shoes...
All belonged to Verónica Salazar.
His heartbeat thundered.
For three years...
Only three people had possessed keys to that room.
Himself.
His late wife, Elena.
And Mauricio, his personal assistant, who kept the emergency spare inside a sealed safe.
So how had Verónica entered?
There was only one explanation.
Someone had secretly given her access.
Someone Alejandro trusted.
He immediately called Mauricio.
Ten minutes later, his assistant hurried into the security room, still wearing yesterday's suit.
"You wanted to see me, sir?"
Alejandro silently pointed toward the monitor.
Mauricio watched the footage.
His face slowly lost all color.
"That's impossible..."
he whispered.
"No one should have been able to enter that room."
Alejandro looked directly into his eyes.
"Then explain it."
Mauricio swallowed.
"I can't."
Without another word, Alejandro walked upstairs.
The long hallway felt colder than usual.
The locked door stood exactly where it always had.
Untouched.
Silent.
Like a tomb.
He removed his key.
For the first time in almost three years...
The lock clicked open.
Dust drifted through the air as the heavy wooden door slowly creaked inward.
The room smelled exactly as it had the day he closed it forever.
His daughter Sofía's pink teddy bear still rested on the rocking chair.
Tiny ballet slippers remained neatly beside the bed.
A half-finished coloring book lay open on the floor.
Every toy...
Every photograph...
Every blanket...
Had remained untouched since the funeral.
Alejandro stood frozen.
The pain hit him so violently that he nearly lost his balance.
He could still hear Sofía laughing.
Still imagine Elena reading bedtime stories.
Still remember promising he would always protect them.
A promise he had failed to keep.
Then something caught his attention.
One shelf inside the bookcase looked cleaner than the others.
Too clean.
Someone had recently moved something.
He slowly reached forward.
Behind a row of children's books...
He discovered an empty space.
Whatever had once been hidden there...
Was gone.
Alejandro frowned.
He remembered exactly what had been there.
A small blue metal box.
Inside it...
Elena had stored family keepsakes.
Letters.
Old photographs.
Insurance documents.
And one sealed envelope she had specifically told him never to open unless something happened to her.
The box had disappeared.
Downstairs...
Citlali quietly finished washing dishes in the kitchen.
She noticed Doña Socorro staring at her.
"What is it?"
The older housekeeper hesitated.
Then sighed.
"You should leave."
Citlali looked confused.
"What?"
"Tonight."
"Before something terrible happens."
Citlali frowned.
"I've done nothing wrong."
"I know."
Doña Socorro lowered her voice.
"That's exactly why I'm afraid."
Before Citlali could respond...
The kitchen phone rang.
Doña Socorro answered.
Within seconds...
Her face turned pale.
She slowly handed the receiver to Citlali.
"It's... the hospital."
Citlali grabbed the phone.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Then a trembling nurse spoke.
"Are you Rosario Mendoza's granddaughter?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry..."
"Your grandmother disappeared from her hospital room twenty minutes ago."
Citlali's knees nearly gave out.
"What do you mean disappeared?"
"The security cameras show someone signing discharge papers."
"But it wasn't you."
"Our staff believed she was a relative."
Citlali felt ice spread through her body.
"My grandmother can't even walk."
The nurse's next sentence made everyone in the kitchen stop breathing.
"She left in a black luxury SUV."
Across the mansion...
Alejandro's phone rang.
It was one of his private investigators.
"Sir..."
"We found something."
Alejandro closed his eyes.
"What?"
"The anonymous phone call that brought Verónica here this morning."
"Can you trace it?"
"Yes."
"Where did it come from?"
A long silence followed.
Finally...
The investigator answered.
"It came from inside Garza Tower."
Alejandro's eyes opened.
"My corporate headquarters?"
"Yes."
"The call originated from the executive floor."
Only six people had access to that floor.
And every one of them had worked beside Alejandro for years.
Someone inside his own company...
Had orchestrated today's confrontation.
Meanwhile...
A black SUV sped through the streets of Mexico City.
Inside the back seat...
Doña Rosario struggled weakly against the seat belt.
An oxygen tube rested beneath her nose.
Across from her sat Verónica Salazar.
Perfectly calm.
Perfectly elegant.
Rosario glared at her with tired eyes.
"You should have left my granddaughter alone."
Verónica smiled.
"I tried."
"But she accepted a job she never should have taken."
Rosario coughed painfully.
"You'll destroy innocent people again."
Verónica leaned forward.
"No."
"I'm protecting everything I built."
Rosario whispered one sentence that erased the smile from Verónica's face.
"Alejandro finally opened the locked room... didn't he?"
Verónica's expression hardened.
"He'll discover the missing box."
Rosario nodded slowly.
"And when he does..."
"He'll learn Elena never believed the accident was an accident."
For the first time...
Verónica looked frightened.
Real fear.
Because the missing blue metal box contained something far more dangerous than family memories.
It contained evidence.
Evidence proving that someone had tampered with Alejandro's SUV...
Hours before the fatal trip to Valle de Bravo.
And if Alejandro ever discovered who ordered it...
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One of Mexico's most powerful business empires would collapse overnight.
End of Chapter 3...
