CHAPTER 17 What Rebeca Did to Alejandro
Alejandro Alcázar had been sick.
That much was true.
But the medical files recovered from Unit Seven showed that his cancer had responded to treatment.
He was expected to live several more years.
Then Rebeca changed his physician.
Dr. Ríos took over.
Within six weeks, Alejandro suffered organ failure.
His death was ruled a complication of chemotherapy.
No autopsy was performed.
Rebeca arranged the cremation.
Sebastián sat alone in the prosecutor’s office reading the files.
Valeria entered carrying Nicolás.
She placed the baby in the bassinet and sat across from her husband.
“Did you know your father wanted to change the trust?”
Sebastián nodded.
“He wanted to divide control equally between Natalia and me.”
“Your mother would have lost authority.”
“She told me he changed his mind.”
“He didn’t.”
The recovered documents showed Alejandro intended to expose the fertility program, return Natalia’s first son, and remove Rebeca from the foundation.
He died two days before signing.
Sebastián covered his face.
“I left him alone with her.”
“You were twenty-six.”
“I believed her.”
“So did everyone.”
“I defended her when Natalia called.”
Natalia’s final phone call had not come before a car accident.
It came from Unit Seven.
She had begged Sebastián to help her.
Rebeca told him Natalia was intoxicated and dangerous.
He hung up.
For eleven years, that decision had lived inside him as guilt.
Now it became something worse.
Evidence that his obedience had helped his mother erase his sister.
“I am not asking you to forgive me,” he told Natalia later.
She looked at him for a long time.
“Good.”
He accepted the answer.
Rebeca was questioned about Alejandro’s death.
She denied killing him.
She admitted changing his medication but claimed the decision was medically necessary.
Dr. Ríos remained missing.
Without him, prosecutors lacked direct proof.
Then a package arrived at the courthouse.
Inside was a syringe, handwritten medical notes, and a letter signed by Dr. Ríos.
The letter confessed that Rebeca ordered him to administer a fatal dose.
It also claimed Octavio later blackmailed him.
The syringe contained traces of the drug found in Alejandro’s preserved tissue sample.
The evidence seemed perfect.
Too perfect.
Natalia read the letter.
“This isn’t his handwriting.”
A handwriting expert agreed.
The confession was forged.
Someone wanted Rebeca charged with murder using evidence that would later collapse in court.
Octavio.
If prosecutors relied on the forgery, Rebeca could claim the entire case was fabricated.
Valeria understood the strategy.
“He is not trying to convict her. He is trying to make her impossible to convict.”
The prosecutor nodded.
“And if he controls the company while she is publicly destroyed, he wins either way.”
Octavio released a video statement from an unknown location.
He presented himself as a whistleblower.
He claimed Rebeca had forced him into the fertility program.
He said he fled because Sebastián intended to kill him.
He accused Valeria of manipulating evidence and Elena of trafficking children.
Parts of the statement were true.
That made the lies stronger.
Public opinion fractured again.
Some people called Octavio a criminal.
Others called him the only man exposing a network run by powerful women.
Sebastián’s reputation collapsed.
The board refused to restore him.
Banks froze accounts.
The Alcázar Group lost billions in market value.
Thousands of employees faced layoffs.
Then Octavio made his offer.
He would surrender evidence against Rebeca and restore the company to Sebastián under one condition.
All criminal charges against Sofía would be dropped.
Mateo would be legally recognized as Valeria and Sebastián’s child.
But physical custody would go to Sofía.
Valeria read the proposal.
“Why does Octavio care who raises Mateo?”
Natalia looked at the legal language.
“He retained visitation rights.”
Sebastián understood.
“If Sofía has custody, Octavio can influence Mateo.”
“And Mateo is your biological son,” Valeria said. “A future heir.”
Octavio was building another path to the company.
One child at a time.
Valeria rejected the offer.
Sebastián hesitated.
Not because he trusted Octavio.
Because the company employed forty thousand people.
Factories were closing.
Pensions were at risk.
Families who had nothing to do with Rebeca’s crimes would suffer.
Valeria saw the conflict.
“You’re considering it.”
“I’m considering the employees.”
“You’re considering trading our son’s custody for control.”
“Sofía carried him. She loves him.”
“She also kidnapped Nicolás.”
“She believed Mateo was dead.”
“So did I believe Emilia was dead. Would that excuse me if I stole someone else’s newborn?”
“No.”
“Then why are we negotiating?”
“Because every option hurts a child.”
That night, Sebastián met privately with the board.
He did not tell Valeria.
She learned from Emilia, who overheard a security call.
When Sebastián returned, Valeria was waiting.
“Did you accept?”
“No.”
“Did you consider it?”
“Yes.”
She looked at him for a long time.
“You always become your mother when the stakes are high.”
His face changed.
“That is not fair.”
“No. It is accurate.”
Before he could answer, Nicolás’s monitor alarm sounded.
Valeria rushed to the crib.
The baby was breathing, but a rash had spread across his chest.
Doctors entered.
Blood tests were ordered.
The results showed a rare immune disorder.
The same disorder Emilia had as an infant.
The physician looked at Valeria.
“He may need a compatible stem-cell donor.”
Everyone turned toward Clara.
The child Rebeca created seven years earlier.
May you like
The child designed to save other children.
And suddenly, the entire horrifying program appeared to have produced exactly the person Nicolás needed.
