Chapter 3 - THE LETTER FROM THE DEAD
Alejandro did not sleep that night.
The mansion was silent.
Lilia was finally asleep in her room, clutching a stuffed rabbit Rosa had given her years ago. Every few minutes Alejandro checked the baby monitor, unable to convince himself she was truly safe.
At 2:17 a.m., he sat alone in Victoria's old study.
The letter lay open on the desk.
His hands trembled as he read it again.
If anything happens to me, do not trust Vanesa.
The date was unmistakable.
Six months before Vanesa had supposedly entered his life.
Impossible.
Unless...
Alejandro's chest tightened.
Unless meeting Vanesa had never been an accident.
He immediately called Javier Morales, a former federal investigator who now handled security for some of Mexico's wealthiest families.
By sunrise, Javier was sitting across from him.
"This isn't a coincidence," Javier said after examining the letter.
"You think she planned everything?"
Javier looked up.
"I think your wife knew she was in danger."
The words hit Alejandro like a hammer.
Victoria had not been paranoid.
She had been afraid.
And he had never noticed.
For the next three days, Javier's team dug through years of records.
Phone logs.
Bank statements.
Emails.
Surveillance footage.
The deeper they searched, the darker the truth became.
Vanesa Duarte had lied about nearly everything.
Her previous identity.
Her education.
Even the story of how they met.
Nothing matched.
Then, on the fourth day, Javier arrived carrying a thick file.
His expression was grim.
"We found her."
Alejandro frowned.
"Found who?"
"The real Vanesa."
Silence filled the room.
Javier opened the file.
Inside was a photograph.
A woman.
Different face.
Different name.
Same eyes.
Vanesa Duarte did not exist.
She had assumed a false identity three years earlier.
And what happened next chilled Alejandro to the bone.
The fake identity appeared only weeks after Victoria began investigating financial irregularities inside Salgado Holdings.
Millions of dollars had vanished through shell companies.
Someone was stealing from the corporation.
Someone powerful.
Someone connected.
Victoria had discovered it.
And shortly afterward...
She died.
Alejandro stared at the documents.
"No..."
Javier nodded.
"We believe your wife's death may not have been natural."
The room seemed to spin.
For two years Alejandro had blamed himself.
For two years he believed he had simply failed to answer the phone.
But what if Victoria had not died because of bad luck?
What if she had been murdered?
At that exact moment, another investigator burst into the office.
"We found the account."
Everyone turned.
"What account?" Javier asked.
The investigator swallowed.
"The one funding Vanesa."
Alejandro rose from his chair.
"Who was sending the money?"
The investigator slowly slid a document across the desk.
Alejandro looked down.
His heart stopped.
Because the name on the account belonged to someone he had trusted for over twenty years.
May you like
His own younger brother.
Ricardo Salgado.
