CHAPTER 4 The Baby Without a Name
The first cry should have been the most beautiful sound Valeria had ever heard.
Instead, it terrified her.
She was awake but unable to move.
A surgical drape blocked her view. Her arms had been loosely restrained, and the sedative made every thought feel trapped beneath deep water.
“My baby,” she whispered.
No one answered.
She heard metal instruments being moved.
A nurse spoke quietly.
“Male infant. Breathing. Good color.”
Valeria tried to lift her head.
“Let me see him.”
Dr. Ríos remained on the other side of the drape.
“Stay still.”
“I want my son.”
Rebeca appeared beside her.
Her pearl earrings caught the surgical light.
“You will rest now.”
Valeria forced her fingers to close around the hidden phone.
It was still recording.
“Tell him who I am.”
Rebeca looked down at her.
“He will know the mother who raises him.”
The baby cried again.
Closer this time.
Valeria turned her head and saw a nurse carrying him toward the incubator.
For one second, she saw his face.
Small.
Red.
Alive.
A dark patch of hair covered his head.
Valeria began pulling against the restraints.
“No!”
The nurse placed the baby inside the incubator and reached for the bracelet labeled MOTHER: UNKNOWN.
Before she could attach it, an alarm sounded outside the room.
Then the doors burst open.
Sebastián came through first.
He struck a security guard who tried to block him and ran toward the incubator.
Natalia followed with Lucía behind her.
Rebeca did not move.
She simply looked at her son.
“You are making a mistake you will regret for the rest of your life.”
Sebastián stood between her and the baby.
“The biggest mistake of my life was believing you.”
Dr. Ríos raised his hands.
“The procedure is not complete. If you interfere, Valeria could hemorrhage.”
Sebastián looked toward his wife.
Her face was pale.
Her eyes were open but unfocused.
“Finish the surgery,” he said. “But nobody touches my son.”
Natalia lifted her phone.
“I’m recording everything.”
Octavio appeared in the doorway with two police officers.
He held up the legal folder.
“This child has been placed under temporary protection by court order.”
Sebastián turned toward him.
“The child was born less than two minutes ago.”
“The order became effective at birth.”
One officer stepped toward the incubator.
Sebastián did not move.
“You take one more step, and every news station in Mexico will see what happened in this room.”
Octavio glanced at Natalia’s phone.
Then he smiled.
“You still think this is about secrecy.”
He opened the folder and removed a document.
“The court has evidence that Valeria physically harmed herself during pregnancy, made repeated threats, and attempted to flee medical supervision. There is also reason to question the identity of the child’s father.”
The room went silent.
Valeria’s eyes sharpened.
Sebastián looked at Octavio.
“What did you say?”
Octavio held up a laboratory report.
“Preliminary genetic screening indicates the infant is not biologically yours.”
Rebeca watched her son carefully.
The accusation landed exactly where she intended.
Sebastián stared toward the incubator.
For one terrible moment, he said nothing.
Valeria saw that silence.
She would remember it longer than any bruise.
“You believe him?” she asked.
Her voice was barely audible.
Sebastián looked at her.
“No.”
But he had hesitated.
And both of them knew it.
Octavio handed the report to the officer.
“The child cannot be released to either alleged parent until testing is complete.”
Natalia stepped forward.
“Who ordered the test?”
“Standard procedure.”
“Genetic testing is not standard procedure during an emergency delivery.”
Octavio’s smile faded.
Natalia took the report.
Her eyes moved across the page.
Then she laughed.
“This sample was collected yesterday.”
Sebastián grabbed the document.
The date was printed clearly.
The baby had not existed outside Valeria’s body yesterday.
Octavio did not look concerned.
“The sample came from amniotic fluid.”
Valeria spoke from the table.
“No one took amniotic fluid.”
Dr. Ríos looked down.
Every face turned toward him.
Rebeca’s voice became quiet.
“Doctor.”
It was not a question.
It was a warning.
Dr. Ríos swallowed.
“The sample may have been mislabeled.”
Octavio stepped toward him.
“Be careful.”
Dr. Ríos looked at Valeria.
Then at the baby.
Then at Sebastián.
For years, he had been paid to protect the Alcázars.
But now Natalia’s camera was recording.
Police officers were watching.
And the false date had exposed the first crack in the plan.
“The test was ordered by Doña Rebeca,” he said.
Rebeca’s face did not change.
Sebastián stared at her.
“You tested my unborn child without telling us?”
“I confirmed a suspicion.”
“What suspicion?”
“That your wife deceived you.”
Valeria’s heart monitor accelerated.
“She’s lying.”
Rebeca looked at her.
“Then you should have no fear of another test.”
The officer requested that the baby remain in the hospital nursery under supervision.
Sebastián refused to leave the child.
Natalia demanded an independent laboratory.
For the next hour, the operating room became a battlefield of doctors, lawyers, hospital administrators, and police.
Valeria was stabilized and moved to recovery.
The baby was placed in a secure nursery with two officers outside.
Nobody was allowed to remove him.
At sunrise, an independent technician arrived.
She took samples from the baby, Valeria, and Sebastián.
Octavio watched from the hallway.
Rebeca sat in silence.
Three hours later, the preliminary results appeared on the hospital computer.
Sebastián stood beside Valeria’s bed when the doctor entered.
His face revealed nothing.
Valeria held out her hand.
“Tell us.”
The doctor looked at the report.
“The child is biologically related to Valeria.”
Sebastián’s fingers tightened around hers.
“And me?”
The doctor hesitated.
“No.”
The room tilted.
Valeria shook her head.
“That’s impossible.”
Sebastián released her hand.
Only for a second.
But again, she noticed.
The doctor continued.
“There is another finding.”
Nobody spoke.
“The child’s paternal DNA is present in the comparison database.”
Octavio stopped smiling.
The doctor turned the screen toward them.
“The biological father is a close relative of Sebastián.”
May you like
Valeria looked toward the doorway.
Octavio was already backing away.
