CHAPTER 4 — Two Babies... One Impossible Choice
The baby's cry echoed through the ancient monastery like a heartbeat refusing to die.
Mariana didn't think.
She ran.
Pain exploded across her abdomen with every step, but nothing could stop her now.
Not the gunfire.
Not the screams.
Not the armed men storming the building.
Her son was somewhere inside.
And after believing him dead for days, she would crawl through fire to reach him.
"Mariana, wait!"
Father Gabriel's voice disappeared beneath the roar of automatic gunfire.
A stained-glass window shattered, sending colored fragments raining across the stone floor.
The elderly lawyer grabbed an overturned table and shoved it against the chapel doors.
"It won't hold them long," he warned.
"You have to find the nursery."
"What about you?"
He smiled sadly.
"I've spent thirty years running from this family."
"It's time someone else kept the truth alive."
Before Mariana could answer, another explosion rocked the monastery.
Dust filled the hallway.
The lights flickered.
Then everything went dark.
Guided only by the sound of the crying baby, Mariana climbed a narrow staircase leading toward the old living quarters.
The cries became louder.
Closer.
She reached a wooden door marked only with a small silver cross.
Slowly, she pushed it open.
Inside stood two antique cribs.
Two newborn boys.
Both sleeping peacefully.
Both wrapped in identical blue blankets embroidered with the initials...
A.R.
Mariana's heart stopped.
"No..."
She whispered.
"No... this can't be."
The boys looked almost identical.
Dark hair.
Tiny hands.
The same delicate features.
One of them stirred and opened his eyes.
The other began to cry.
Mariana dropped to her knees.
"Which one...?"
Tears blurred her vision.
"Which one is my son?"
A soft clap echoed from the doorway.
"Bravo."
Mariana spun around.
Santiago Ramírez stood there.
Perfectly dressed despite the chaos outside.
His suit was untouched.
His expression calm.
Almost amused.
He slowly closed the nursery door behind him.
"I knew you'd make it."
Mariana's face twisted with fury.
"You monster."
He sighed.
"I've been called worse."
She lunged toward him.
He didn't move.
Instead, two armed guards stepped into the room, blocking her path.
"Don't."
Santiago said quietly.
"I didn't come here to hurt you."
"You stole my baby!"
"I protected him."
"You murdered my future!"
"I secured it."
Mariana pointed toward the cribs.
"Which one is my son?"
Santiago smiled.
"That's the interesting part."
He walked between the two babies.
"You see..."
"One of them is your son."
"The other belongs to Abril."
Mariana's breathing became uneven.
"You switched them."
"I did."
"Why?"
"So no one—not even me—could identify the true heir without something much more valuable."
He looked directly into her eyes.
"The letter your mother left behind."
Mariana instinctively pressed a hand against her hospital gown.
The sealed letter was still hidden inside.
Santiago noticed.
"There it is."
"I've searched for that document for twelve years."
"You'll never have it."
"We'll see."
Outside, another burst of gunfire shook the building.
One of Santiago's bodyguards rushed into the room.
"Sir!"
"The police are surrounding the monastery!"
Santiago frowned.
"The police?"
"We didn't call the police."
"Neither did we."
The guard swallowed hard.
"It's not local police."
"It's a federal task force."
For the first time that night...
Santiago's confidence cracked.
Mariana noticed.
"What happened?"
He didn't answer.
She smiled through her tears.
"You didn't plan this."
His jaw tightened.
"No."
Someone else had entered the game.
A commanding voice echoed through loudspeakers outside.
"This is the Federal Attorney General's Office!"
"Everyone inside the monastery is ordered to surrender immediately!"
Santiago turned pale.
"Impossible..."
Only four people had known about the monastery.
Father Gabriel.
The elderly witnesses.
Mariana.
And...
Abril.
Santiago suddenly pulled out his phone.
He dialed Abril.
No answer.
Again.
Voicemail.
A third time.
Nothing.
His face slowly changed from anger...
...to disbelief.
"She betrayed me."
Mariana stared at him.
"The woman you destroyed your family for..."
"...destroyed you."
Suddenly, Father Gabriel staggered into the nursery, blood soaking one sleeve.
"They're here."
He locked the door behind him.
"You have less than two minutes."
Mariana rushed to help him.
"You're hurt!"
"It's only my arm."
He pulled a small envelope from inside his coat.
"Your mother gave me this the day before she died."
"I was only supposed to hand it to you if your child disappeared."
Mariana tore the envelope open.
Inside was a single page.
No legal language.
No inheritance documents.
Just one handwritten sentence.
"Your son was born with a crescent-shaped birthmark behind his left ear. If they ever try to take him from you, that mark will tell you the truth."
Mariana's hands trembled.
She hurried to the first crib.
No birthmark.
She rushed to the second.
With shaking fingers, she gently moved the baby's tiny blanket aside.
Then she looked behind his left ear.
There it was.
A tiny crescent-shaped mark.
Exactly as her mother had written.
"My baby..."
She broke down, lifting him carefully into her arms.
The infant opened his eyes.
For a brief second...
He looked directly at her.
And stopped crying.
Santiago watched in silence.
His shoulders slowly dropped.
"So..."
"You found him."
Mariana held her son close.
"No."
"I found the reason you'll never win."
Just then—
The nursery door exploded inward.
Federal agents flooded the room with weapons raised.
"Nobody move!"
One agent stepped forward, looking directly at Santiago.
"Mr. Ramírez..."
"You're under arrest for conspiracy, kidnapping, medical fraud, obstruction of justice, and multiple counts of bribery."
The room fell silent.
Mariana closed her eyes in relief.
It was over.
Or so she believed.
Then the lead agent removed his tactical helmet.
Santiago stared at him...
...and smiled.
"You're late, cousin."
The agent smiled back.
"No."
"Right on time."
Mariana felt the blood drain from her face.
The federal agent...
...was a member of the Ramírez family.
And from the look they exchanged...
This arrest had never been about justice.
It was about who would control the empire next.
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END OF CHAPTER 4
▶ Coming in Chapter 5: While the nation celebrates Santiago's arrest, Mariana discovers the federal agent is even more dangerous than her husband. To save her son, she must uncover the original Ramírez family ledger—a document hidden for fifty years that names the true heir and exposes the conspiracy that has claimed countless lives.
