CHAPTER 11 THE BROTHER WHO WAS ERASED FROM HISTORY
The gunfire stopped.
But the silence that followed was even more terrifying.
Everyone remained frozen inside the abandoned vineyard.
Dust floated through the broken windows.
The smell of smoke filled the air.
Santiago slowly raised his head.
"Everyone stay down."
His eyes scanned the darkness outside.
Someone had attacked them.
Someone knew exactly where they were.
But the most impossible part was not the attack.
It was the voice.
A voice from the past.
A voice Mariana had heard only in old memories.
A voice that should not exist.
"Mariana..."
The voice came again.
Closer this time.
Her entire body went cold.
Because she knew that voice.
Not from the news.
Not from photographs.
From childhood.
From a memory buried deep inside her mind.
A little boy laughing in the gardens of the Salcedo mansion.
A little boy holding her hand.
A little boy everyone told her she imagined.
Her brother.
Santiago looked at Gabriel.
"Did you know about this?"
Gabriel's expression changed.
"No."
Mariana turned toward him.
"You said you knew everything."
Gabriel looked devastated.
"I knew Rodrigo took many things from us."
A pause.
"But I didn't know he took your brother."
A figure appeared outside the vineyard.
A man.
Tall.
Wearing a dark jacket.
His face hidden by the shadows.
Santiago immediately moved forward.
"Stop."
The man raised his hands.
"I don't want to fight."
Mariana stepped closer.
"Santiago."
He looked back.
"Don't."
But Mariana couldn't move away.
Something inside her already knew.
The man slowly stepped into the light.
And she saw his face.
Time stopped.
Because the face was familiar.
Not exactly.
Years had changed him.
But the eyes...
Those eyes were the same.
The same eyes from the old family photographs.
The same eyes she remembered.
"Mateo..."
The man's expression broke.
Nobody had called him that name in years.
"You're the only person who remembers."
Mariana covered her mouth.
"No..."
Her voice shook.
"You died."
Mateo looked down.
"That's what they wanted everyone to believe."
The revelation destroyed everything Mariana thought she knew.
Another lie.
Another missing person.
Another secret hidden by the Salcedo family.
She looked at Gabriel.
"How?"
Gabriel's eyes filled with pain.
"After I disappeared, Rodrigo knew my existence was a threat."
"He couldn't destroy me completely because too many people knew about me."
"So he chose another way."
Mariana whispered:
"Your son."
Gabriel nodded.
"Mateo was taken away."
Mateo looked at Mariana.
"I tried to come back."
"But every time I got close..."
He looked toward the mansion in the distance.
"They stopped me."
Mariana's voice became angry.
"Who?"
Mateo answered:
"Everyone."
They returned to the vineyard building.
For the first time, Mariana sat across from someone who shared her blood.
Someone who had suffered the same family.
Mateo explained everything.
After Gabriel disappeared, Rodrigo took control of the company.
But he feared one thing.
The children.
Because Gabriel's bloodline had a legal claim to the empire.
So Rodrigo erased them.
Gabriel.
Mateo.
And eventually Mariana's true identity.
"But why didn't you reveal yourself when I became older?"
Mariana asked.
Mateo looked away.
"Because I was warned."
"By who?"
He hesitated.
"By the person who saved my life."
Mariana frowned.
"Who?"
Mateo looked at Valentina.
Everyone became silent.
Valentina lowered her eyes.
"I found him after Rodrigo abandoned him."
Mariana stared.
"You knew?"
Valentina nodded.
"I protected him."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was waiting."
"For what?"
Valentina looked at Mariana.
"For you to be strong enough."
Suddenly, Santiago's phone rang.
Everyone looked at him.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Nobody spoke.
Then a familiar voice came through.
Rodrigo.
"How touching."
Santiago's face changed.
"You."
Rodrigo laughed.
"I always knew you were weak."
Mariana grabbed the phone.
"Where are you?"
Rodrigo ignored her.
"You found Gabriel."
A pause.
"You found Mateo."
Another pause.
"But you still haven't found the most important secret."
Mariana's eyes narrowed.
"What secret?"
Rodrigo answered:
"The reason your mother helped me."
Silence.
Elena had been the mastermind.
But why?
Rodrigo continued:
"Ask your mother why she chose me."
Mariana froze.
"She didn't choose me for money."
A pause.
"She chose me because Gabriel wasn't the only person who disappeared."
The call ended.
Nobody moved.
Then Mateo quietly spoke.
"There is something you don't know."
Mariana looked at him.
"What?"
Mateo took a deep breath.
"When I was taken..."
He looked toward Gabriel.
"I wasn't the only child they hid."
Everyone froze.
Mariana felt the room spinning.
"What are you saying?"
Mateo looked at her.
"Before Rodrigo took me..."
"There was another baby."
A long silence.
Then he whispered:
"Your twin."
Mariana stared at him.
A twin.
Another child.
Another secret.
Another person erased from history.
And somewhere out there...
Someone who shared her blood was still alive.
Outside the vineyard...
A black car watched from a distance.
Inside sat Elena Salcedo.
She listened to the conversation through a hidden device.
For the first time in years...
She looked afraid.
Because Mariana had found the truth.
But Elena knew something they didn't.
The truth was much worse.
She picked up her phone.
"Prepare everything."
A voice answered:
"Are you sure?"
Elena looked toward the vineyard.
Her eyes filled with cold determination.
"Yes."
"Because if Mariana discovers who her twin really is..."
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A pause.
"The entire Salcedo empire will burn."
