CHAPTER 2 The Woman Rebeca Buried
The woman standing in the doorway looked like a ghost Sebastián had spent eleven years trying to forget.
Her dark hair had been cut unevenly at her shoulders. Her face was thinner than he remembered, and a pale scar ran from her temple to the edge of her jaw. She wore a gray coat despite the warm night, clutching it closed as though she expected someone to tear it away.
Sebastián stopped breathing.
“Natalia?”
His older sister looked directly at him.
“You still recognize me.”
Behind her, Doña Rebeca rose so quickly that her chair scraped across the hospital floor.
“That woman is not allowed near my family.”
Natalia smiled, but there was no warmth in it.
“I am your family, Mother.”
Octavio stepped forward, placing himself between Natalia and the hospital room.
“You need to leave.”
Natalia turned her eyes toward him.
“You said the same thing the night you drove me to Saltillo.”
Valeria tightened her grip around Sebastián’s wrist.
Saltillo.
The private clinic named in the transfer papers was also in Saltillo.
Sebastián looked from his sister to his mother.
For eleven years, he had believed Natalia died in a car accident outside Monterrey. He had seen a sealed casket. He had watched Rebeca collapse at the funeral. He had spent months blaming himself because he had ignored Natalia’s last phone call.
Now she was standing less than ten feet away.
Alive.
Terrified.
And staring at Rebeca like a woman who had returned to confront her executioner.
“You were dead,” Sebastián whispered.
“No,” Natalia said. “I was inconvenient.”
Rebeca’s composure cracked for only a second.
Then she straightened her jacket.
“My daughter suffered a severe psychological breakdown. We protected her privacy.”
“You buried an empty coffin.”
“We protected the family.”
“You erased me.”
Natalia took one step forward.
Octavio reached for her arm, but she flinched so violently that Sebastián moved between them.
“Don’t touch her.”
Octavio’s eyes narrowed.
“This is not the time for another emotional scene.”
Valeria laughed from the bed.
The sound was weak but sharp.
“Is that what you call it when women in this family tell the truth?”
Everyone turned toward her.
Natalia entered the room slowly.
When she saw the bruises on Valeria’s legs, her expression changed. The anger disappeared, replaced by recognition.
She walked closer.
“Did they give you injections?”
Valeria nodded.
“They said they were for the baby.”
“Did they make you dizzy?”
“Yes.”
“Did you wake up with marks you couldn’t explain?”
Sebastián looked at Valeria.
She had told him she was losing time.
He had blamed exhaustion.
She had told him nurses entered the house while he was at work.
He had believed Rebeca when she said Valeria was confused.
Natalia turned to her brother.
“They did this to me too.”
Rebeca moved toward the door.
“That is enough.”
“No,” Natalia said. “It has been enough for eleven years.”
She reached into her coat and pulled out a small digital recorder.
Octavio’s face changed.
Not much.
But Valeria saw it.
Fear.
Natalia held the recorder up.
“I have conversations. Medical orders. Payment records. Names of women who were declared unstable after giving birth. Women who lost custody. Women who were transferred to clinics owned by foundations connected to the Alcázars.”
Sebastián stared at Octavio.
“What is she talking about?”
Octavio recovered quickly.
“She escaped from a psychiatric facility this afternoon. Anything she says is unreliable.”
Natalia pressed a button.
Rebeca’s voice filled the room.
Calm.
Cold.
Unmistakable.
“If Valeria refuses to cooperate, increase the dosage. By the time Sebastián returns, she should appear disoriented.”
Silence consumed the room.
Sebastián looked at his mother.
Rebeca did not deny it.
Instead, she looked disappointed.
“You do not understand what was necessary.”
“For what?” Sebastián demanded.
“To protect what your father built.”
“My father is dead.”
“And everything he left can still be destroyed by one unstable woman.”
Valeria tried to sit up, but pain crossed her face.
Sebastián moved to help her.
Natalia watched them.
Then she looked toward Valeria’s stomach.
“How far apart are the contractions?”
Valeria swallowed.
“Three minutes.”
The monitor began beeping faster.
A nurse rushed in.
Behind her came Dr. Esteban Ríos, the obstetrician who had stood silently beside Rebeca earlier.
“We need to prepare for delivery.”
“No,” Valeria said immediately.
Dr. Ríos frowned.
“Your baby’s heart rate is dropping.”
“I don’t want you touching me.”
“This is not a discussion.”
Sebastián stepped in front of the bed.
“It is now.”
Rebeca’s voice hardened.
“Move aside, Sebastián.”
He looked at his mother.
For the first time in his life, he did not obey.
“Call another doctor.”
“There is no time,” Dr. Ríos said. “If we delay, the baby could die.”
Valeria gripped Sebastián’s hand as another contraction tore through her.
Natalia moved beside the monitor.
Her eyes dropped to the IV line.
Then she froze.
“What did you put in this bag?”
Dr. Ríos reached for the tubing.
Natalia slapped his hand away.
“What did you put in it?”
Security guards appeared in the doorway.
Octavio pointed at Natalia.
“Remove her.”
Before they could touch her, Natalia pulled the IV line from Valeria’s arm.
A dark drop of blood formed against Valeria’s skin.
The heart monitor alarm became louder.
Dr. Ríos shouted for the guards.
Sebastián turned toward the IV bag.
A label had been placed over another label.
He peeled back the top sticker.
Underneath was the name of a medication he recognized from the last years of his father’s life.
A powerful sedative.
Not a labor medication.
Not something intended to protect a baby.
He held the bag up.
“What is this?”
Dr. Ríos went pale.
Rebeca took one step backward.
Then every light in the hospital went out.
The room fell into darkness.
Valeria screamed.
Someone shoved Sebastián against the wall.
The emergency lights flashed red.
For three chaotic seconds, he heard footsteps, metal striking the floor, and Natalia shouting his name.
Then the lights came back.
The bed was empty.
May you like
Valeria was gone.
And so was Rebeca.
