CHAPTER 10 THE ENEMY INSIDE THE HOSPITAL
The door handle moved slowly.
Once.
Twice.
Mariana stopped breathing.
Every instinct told her something was wrong.
The hospital had security.
Doctors.
Nurses.
Cameras everywhere.
But whoever stood outside her room didn't move like a normal visitor.
They moved like someone who knew exactly where they were going.
Someone who wasn't afraid of being seen.
Santiago immediately stepped in front of Mariana.
"Stay behind me."
Gabriel moved toward Nico's bed.
The little boy was still sleeping, unaware of the danger surrounding him.
Mariana looked at the door.
Her heart pounded.
Not because she was afraid of dying.
She had already faced death.
She was afraid because she knew something now.
The people who wanted her gone would never stop.
The door opened.
A nurse walked in.
Everyone relaxed for a moment.
"I'm sorry," the nurse said.
"Emergency medication delivery."
Santiago didn't move.
He stared at the tray.
"What medication?"
The nurse looked confused.
"For the patient."
"Which patient?"
The nurse glanced at Nico.
"The boy."
Santiago stepped closer.
"Show me your identification."
The nurse hesitated.
Only for a second.
But it was enough.
Santiago noticed.
"Who are you?"
The nurse suddenly reached inside her coat.
Santiago reacted instantly.
He grabbed her wrist before she could pull anything out.
The tray fell.
Glass shattered across the floor.
Mariana stepped back.
The woman fought hard.
Too hard for a normal nurse.
Within seconds, Santiago forced her against the wall.
"Who sent you?"
The woman smiled.
A cold, fearless smile.
"You still protect them."
Santiago froze.
"What?"
She looked at Mariana.
"Your family isn't the only thing you should fear."
Security arrived moments later.
But the woman had already escaped.
Not through the hallway.
Not through the stairs.
Through a hidden service exit.
Like she had planned everything.
Mariana looked at Santiago.
"She knew you."
Santiago remained silent.
"Who was she?"
He looked troubled.
"I don't know."
Mariana stared.
"You are lying."
A long pause.
Then Santiago finally admitted:
"I've seen her before."
"Where?"
"Working for your grandfather."
Gabriel's face changed.
"Impossible."
Santiago looked at him.
"No."
"She was one of Alejandro's most trusted people."
Mariana felt a chill.
"Another ghost from the past."
Santiago nodded.
"And another person who was supposed to be dead."
The next morning, the hospital became surrounded by reporters.
The world wanted answers.
The Salcedo family scandal had become international news.
But Mariana wasn't ready to speak.
Not yet.
Because she knew something important.
The flash drive exposed the crime.
But it didn't expose the mastermind.
And until she found that person...
She couldn't stop.
At noon, Valentina called again.
This time Mariana answered alone.
"Where are you?"
Valentina hesitated.
"Somewhere they cannot find me."
"Then help me."
A pause.
"You don't understand what you're dealing with."
Mariana looked toward Nico.
"I understand enough."
"They tried to kill my son."
"They tried to erase me."
Her voice hardened.
"I am done running."
Silence.
Then Valentina spoke.
"Meet me at the old Salcedo vineyard."
Mariana frowned.
"The abandoned one?"
"Yes."
"Why there?"
Valentina answered:
"Because that is where your family buried the first secret."
Several hours later...
Mariana, Santiago, and Gabriel arrived at the abandoned vineyard.
The place had been empty for years.
The old buildings were covered in vines.
The windows were broken.
The entire property looked forgotten.
But Mariana felt something strange.
Like the land remembered.
Inside the old storage building, Valentina waited.
She looked different from the pictures.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
Mariana stared.
"You really survived."
Valentina smiled sadly.
"So did you."
A silence passed between them.
Then Mariana asked:
"Who was the person on the yacht?"
Valentina looked at her.
And her answer changed everything.
"It wasn't someone watching."
Mariana frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Valentina stepped closer.
"It was someone controlling the entire operation."
"Who?"
Valentina looked toward Gabriel.
Then Santiago.
Then Mariana.
"The person who planned your death..."
She paused.
"Was inside the Salcedo family."
Mariana's face tightened.
"We already know that."
Valentina shook her head.
"No."
"You don't."
A pause.
"Because the person I saw giving orders..."
Mariana waited.
Valentina whispered:
"Was not Rodrigo."
The wind moved through the broken windows.
Nobody spoke.
Then Valentina said the words that changed everything:
"It was your mother."
Mariana froze.
"No."
Valentina nodded.
"I saw Elena."
"She wasn't following orders."
"She was giving them."
Before Mariana could respond...
A gunshot exploded outside.
Everyone dropped.
The vineyard windows shattered.
Someone was shooting at them.
Santiago pulled Mariana down.
Gabriel grabbed Valentina.
Then another shot came.
Closer.
A voice shouted from outside:
"Mariana!"
Everyone stopped.
Because the voice was familiar.
A voice Mariana had not heard in years.
May you like
A voice that should have been impossible.
Her younger brother.
