CHAPTER 4: THE CHILD WHO COULD DESTROY AN EMPIRE
The words echoed inside the mansion.
“Your son has the same genetic marker as my family.”
Elena Cruz stared at Sebastián Salgado as if she no longer recognized him.
For years, she had lived with one certainty.
Mateo was her son.
The child of Daniel Cruz.
The little boy she had raised alone.
The only reason she never gave up.
And now, in a mansion filled with secrets and lies, a powerful stranger was telling her that her child carried the blood of the Salgado family.
A family that had everything.
Money.
Power.
Enemies.
Death.
—No… —Elena whispered.
She shook her head.
—That’s impossible.
Sebastián looked at the report again.
For once, he wasn’t acting like a businessman.
He looked like a man whose entire reality had collapsed.
—You’re right.
His voice was quiet.
“It should be impossible.”
Twenty years.
That was how long Sebastián believed he knew the story of his own life.
His father died.
He survived.
Daniel Cruz disappeared.
And he became the man everyone feared.
But now every piece of his past was moving.
Every lie was cracking.
And Mateo…
An eight-year-old child fighting for his health…
Might be the one person who could expose the truth.
Elena grabbed the file from his hand.
—Who ordered this test?
Gabriel looked uncomfortable.
—It was done by our private laboratory.
Elena looked at Sebastián.
—Without my permission?
Nobody answered.
That answer was enough.
Her anger exploded.
—You people think money gives you the right to enter anyone’s life?
The guards outside became nervous.
Nobody spoke to Sebastián like that.
But Sebastián didn’t stop her.
Because deep down…
He knew she was right.
He had spent twenty years controlling everything.
Except the truth.
Suddenly, a sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Confident.
Everyone turned.
A woman appeared at the entrance.
Elegant.
Beautiful.
Cold.
She was wearing a black dress and expensive jewelry.
Elena recognized her from the portraits.
The Salgado family.
—Victoria.
Sebastián’s voice became colder.
His younger sister.
The woman who had managed the family empire while he was trapped in his wheelchair.
The woman everyone trusted.
The woman who had always been beside him.
Victoria smiled.
—Brother.
Her eyes moved toward Elena.
Then toward the medical file.
The smile disappeared for half a second.
Only half a second.
But Elena noticed.
And so did Sebastián.
—You knew.
The room froze.
Victoria looked confused.
—Excuse me?
Sebastián lifted the report.
—You knew about Mateo.
Silence.
Then Victoria laughed softly.
—You’re being paranoid.
Sebastián stared at her.
—Am I?
He moved his wheelchair closer.
—Someone entered my archive tonight.
Victoria’s expression changed slightly.
—That’s impossible.
—Exactly.
His eyes became cold.
“Only family members knew how to access that room.”
Victoria remained silent.
Elena watched the two siblings.
Something was happening beneath the words.
Something older than her.
Older than Daniel.
Older than Mateo.
A war that had started twenty years ago.
Victoria looked at Elena.
—You should leave.
Elena frowned.
—Why?
Victoria smiled.
But there was no kindness in it.
—Because women like you don’t understand the world you entered.
Elena stepped forward.
—Women like me?
Victoria looked at her old clothes.
Her tired face.
Her simple shoes.
—People who think kindness can defeat power.
Elena stared back.
—And people like you think power can hide the truth forever.
For a moment…
Victoria’s expression broke.
Just a little.
But enough.
Sebastián noticed.
And he remembered something.
A memory from the explosion.
Something he had ignored for twenty years.
The moment before the bomb exploded.
His father had received a phone call.
He remembered the expression on his father’s face.
Fear.
Not anger.
Not surprise.
Fear.
And the person standing beside him…
Was Victoria.
That night, Sebastián couldn’t sleep.
For the first time in years, he left his bedroom and went to the old family archive.
The room where the stolen file had been kept.
Elena followed.
Not because she trusted him.
But because she needed answers.
Inside were thousands of documents.
Photos.
Contracts.
Medical records.
Old secrets.
Sebastián opened a hidden compartment behind a bookshelf.
Inside was a small box.
He had never opened it.
Because it belonged to his father.
A note was attached.
“For Sebastián. Only open this when you discover the truth.”
His hands tightened.
He opened it.
Inside was an old photograph.
A photograph from twenty years ago.
The night before the explosion.
Sebastián looked at it.
Then froze.
Elena came closer.
And saw it too.
The picture showed:
Sebastián.
His father.
Daniel Cruz.
And…
A pregnant woman.
Elena’s eyes widened.
Because she knew that woman.
It was her.
Her voice disappeared.
—That’s impossible.
Sebastián looked at her.
—You were there?
Elena shook her head.
—No.
Her face became pale.
—That picture was taken before I met Daniel.
But then something fell from the back of the photograph.
A small handwritten letter.
Sebastián picked it up.
The handwriting was Daniel’s.
He read the first line.
And immediately turned pale.
“If you are reading this, it means they found Mateo.”
Elena stopped breathing.
Sebastián continued reading.
His hands trembled.
“Sebastián, I’m sorry I lied to you. The boy you thought was just Daniel’s son…”
He looked at Elena.
Then finished the sentence.
“…is actually your son.”
The room went completely silent.
Elena felt her knees weaken.
—No…
Sebastián couldn’t move.
The man who had faced enemies, assassins, and betrayal…
Was destroyed by one truth.
Mateo was his son.
Before either of them could process it…
The mansion lights suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Then a voice came from the security speakers.
A voice they both recognized.
Victoria.
—Congratulations, Sebastián.
A pause.
—You finally discovered the truth.
Emergency lights turned on.
But Victoria was no longer in the hallway.
She was on every screen.
Smiling.
—Unfortunately…
Her smile became colder.
“You discovered it twenty years too late.”
Sebastián grabbed the desk.
—Where is Mateo?
Victoria laughed.
And Elena felt her blood freeze.
Because she already knew the answer.
Victoria looked directly into the camera.
—Don’t worry.
The boy is safe.
For now.
Then she whispered:
“But if Sebastián wants his son back…”
A pause.
“…he will have to give me the empire.”
May you like
TO BE CONTINUED…
Chapter 5: Elena discovers why Daniel hid Mateo’s identity for 8 years… and Sebastián must choose between saving his empire or saving the son he never knew existed.
