CHAPTER 10 The Price of an Heir
Octavio’s message contained no address.
Only a demand.
Sebastián had twelve hours to transfer his voting shares in the Alcázar Group to a private trust controlled by Octavio.
If he refused, Emilia would disappear permanently.
Valeria read the message twice.
Then she looked at Sebastián.
“Give him the shares.”
He did not hesitate.
“I will.”
Rebeca, seated under guard across the room, laughed softly.
Everyone turned toward her.
“You think this ends when you sign a document?”
Valeria stood.
“My daughter is tied to a chair.”
“And Octavio wants something he cannot legally receive.”
Sebastián frowned.
“He asked for my shares.”
“Your shares are restricted.”
“Not if I sign a transfer.”
“You cannot transfer them without proof of a legitimate male heir.”
Sebastián looked toward Nicolás.
Rebeca’s expression changed.
“The trust was written by your grandfather. Control passes through blood, not marriage. Until Nicolás’s paternity is verified, you cannot move the shares.”
“The first test was manipulated.”
“The second test did not identify you.”
“Because the sample was switched.”
“Then obtain a valid result.”
Valeria stared at her.
“This was always about the company.”
“It is about protecting thousands of employees from chaos.”
“You built a maternity prison beneath your house.”
“I prevented men from destroying an empire because they could not control their appetites or produce heirs.”
Sebastián looked at her with disgust.
“You created children as legal insurance.”
“I created options.”
Nicolás began crying.
Valeria lifted him.
The sound softened Rebeca’s face again.
That frightened Valeria more than hatred would have.
Rebeca did love the child.
In her own way.
And that meant she would justify anything to keep him.
Federal agents arranged a rapid DNA test using samples collected under direct observation.
Sebastián watched the technician swab his mouth.
Valeria held Nicolás while a second sample was taken from the baby.
The results would take four hours.
Octavio’s deadline allowed six.
Meanwhile, police traced the photograph of Emilia.
A rusted metal sign in the background belonged to a former textile factory near Santa Catarina.
Teams were sent to the location.
The building was empty.
They found the chair.
Rope.
A camera.
And fresh blood on the floor.
Valeria nearly collapsed when she heard.
The blood was later identified as animal blood.
Another manipulation.
Another hour lost.
Natalia searched through the flash drives from the locker.
Most files were encrypted.
One opened.
It contained a video recorded fifteen years earlier.
Valeria appeared on-screen at seventeen.
She was lying in a hospital bed, screaming for her daughter.
Elena stood beside Rebeca near the door.
A younger Octavio held a folder.
Elena said, “You promised she would never know.”
Rebeca answered, “She will believe whatever grief makes easier.”
Then teenage Valeria grabbed a surgical instrument from a tray and ran toward the nursery doors.
Staff restrained her.
The video ended before showing what happened next.
Sebastián watched in silence.
Valeria covered her mouth.
“I remember pieces.”
Rebeca spoke from across the room.
“You held a blade against a nurse.”
“I was trying to get through a locked door.”
“You threatened anyone who came near you.”
“My baby had been taken.”
“You were dangerous.”
“You made me dangerous.”
The argument ended when the laboratory director entered.
He carried the new paternity results.
Valeria’s heart pounded.
The director looked at Sebastián.
“You are Nicolás’s biological father.”
Relief crossed his face.
Then confusion.
“How?”
Rebeca looked away.
The director continued.
“There is a medical issue you should be aware of. The fertility records provided to us state that you were diagnosed as infertile eight years ago.”
Sebastián nodded.
“That’s why we used IVF.”
“The diagnosis appears to have been false.”
He stared at the man.
“What?”
“Your current sample shows no evidence of infertility. We also found archived laboratory data indicating normal fertility years before your marriage.”
Sebastián slowly turned toward his mother.
“You lied to me.”
Rebeca’s jaw tightened.
“You were reckless. A child with the wrong woman could have endangered the trust.”
“So you convinced me I couldn’t have children naturally.”
“I made sure any heir would be planned.”
Valeria felt physically ill.
Every part of their marriage had been touched by Rebeca.
The timing.
The clinic.
The treatments.
The pregnancy.
Even the belief that Nicolás had been difficult to create.
Sebastián’s phone rang.
Octavio.
He answered on speaker.
“You have proof now,” Octavio said. “Transfer the shares.”
Sebastián looked at the attorney preparing the documents.
“I’ll sign when I see Emilia alive.”
A video call appeared.
Emilia sat in the back seat of a car.
She was no longer tied.
She looked directly at the camera.
Valeria stepped closer.
“Emilia?”
The girl’s expression did not change.
Octavio’s voice came from the driver’s seat.
“Tell your mother you’re alive.”
Emilia looked at Valeria.
“You’re not my mother.”
Valeria’s breath broke.
“I am.”
“No. My mother is Elena Serrano.”
Valeria stared at the screen.
Her own mother had raised the daughter she claimed was dead.
May you like
Emilia leaned closer to the camera.
“And she told me what you tried to do to me.”
