CHAPTER 13 THE SISTER WHO REMEMBERED EVERYTHING
The call ended.
Mariana stared at the dark screen of her phone.
For several seconds, she didn't move.
The words kept repeating in her mind.
"I know who ordered our mother's attack."
Not Rodrigo.
Not Elena.
Someone else.
Someone hidden.
Someone who had controlled everything from the beginning.
"Who was it?"
Santiago asked.
Mariana looked up.
"It was Isabella."
Gabriel frowned.
"Your sister?"
Mariana nodded slowly.
"But she said something strange."
"What?"
Mariana looked at the photograph again.
The woman who looked exactly like her.
"The night they took me away from her."
Nobody spoke.
Because that sentence changed everything.
Mateo walked closer.
"Mariana..."
She looked at him.
"What?"
"You and Isabella were separated as children."
"Yes."
"No."
His voice became serious.
"You don't understand."
"Rodrigo didn't just hide your identity."
"He changed the entire story."
The file marked PROJECT MIRROR was placed on the table.
Santiago continued reading.
"The project started twenty-eight years ago."
He turned the pages.
"The goal was to create a perfect heir."
Mariana frowned.
"Create?"
Santiago looked uncomfortable.
"Not create a child."
"Control one."
The documents revealed a horrifying plan.
Rodrigo believed power came from controlling the future.
He wanted children who could inherit the Salcedo empire without questioning him.
So he manipulated everything.
Where they lived.
Who they knew.
What they believed.
Even what they remembered.
Mariana looked at Gabriel.
"He did this to us?"
Gabriel's eyes filled with anger.
"He stole our family."
A pause.
"He stole our children."
At the same time...
Inside an old abandoned house outside the city...
Isabella sat on the floor.
Her wedding dress was gone.
Her perfect image was destroyed.
For the first time in her life, she looked like someone who had lost everything.
Across from her stood the person who had been watching from the shadows.
The person who had returned.
The person who knew every Salcedo secret.
"You shouldn't have called Mariana."
Isabella looked up.
"I had to."
"You don't understand what you started."
Isabella laughed bitterly.
"What else can happen?"
"My family tried to murder my sister."
"They destroyed my entire life."
Her voice shook.
"I spent years believing I was special."
"But I was just another piece on their board."
The person stepped closer.
"You still don't know the whole truth."
Isabella looked angry.
"Then tell me."
Silence.
Finally:
"You were never supposed to survive either."
Isabella froze.
"What?"
"The night Mariana disappeared..."
A pause.
"Rodrigo planned for both of you to disappear."
Back at the vineyard...
Mariana received another message.
A video file.
No sender.
She opened it.
The screen showed a room from twenty years ago.
A young Isabella.
A young Mariana.
Two little girls playing together.
Laughing.
Holding hands.
Mariana covered her mouth.
Because she remembered.
Not everything.
Just fragments.
A garden.
A birthday cake.
A little girl whispering:
"Don't worry. I'll protect you."
Then the video changed.
The two children were separated.
A young Rodrigo entered the room.
He looked at them coldly.
"This family cannot have two heirs."
Young Isabella cried.
"Where is my sister going?"
Rodrigo answered:
"Somewhere nobody will find her."
Mariana stopped the video.
Her hands were shaking.
"He made Isabella forget."
Santiago nodded.
"He manipulated both of you."
"But why?"
Gabriel answered quietly.
"Because one of you was the key to the empire."
Mariana looked confused.
"What does that mean?"
Gabriel pointed to the documents.
"Project Mirror wasn't about inheritance."
"It was about ownership."
Suddenly, the old vineyard lights turned on.
Everyone turned.
A voice came through the speakers.
"Congratulations."
Everyone froze.
The voice was familiar.
Rodrigo.
"You finally found the truth."
Santiago immediately searched for the source.
"Show yourself."
Rodrigo laughed.
"You still think this is about me."
Mariana stepped forward.
"What do you want?"
His voice became colder.
"I want you to understand something."
"The Salcedo empire doesn't belong to me."
A pause.
"It never did."
The speakers crackled.
Then Rodrigo said:
"The person controlling everything has been beside you from the beginning."
Everyone looked at each other.
Mariana's heart started racing.
"No."
Rodrigo continued:
"Ask Santiago why he never told you about the night your mother disappeared."
Santiago froze.
Mariana slowly turned toward him.
"Santiago?"
He looked away.
And that was enough.
Because Mariana realized...
There was another secret.
"Tell me."
Santiago remained silent.
"Tell me the truth."
His eyes filled with guilt.
"I wasn't only your father's security chief."
Mariana waited.
"I was there the night you and Isabella were separated."
The room went silent.
Gabriel stepped forward.
"What are you saying?"
Santiago closed his eyes.
"I helped Rodrigo take Mariana away."
The confession destroyed the room.
Mariana couldn't speak.
The man who saved her...
The man who brought her the evidence...
Was also part of the reason she lost her childhood.
"You lied to me."
Santiago looked devastated.
"Yes."
"Why?"
His answer was quiet.
"Because I was trying to protect you from the truth."
Mariana laughed bitterly.
"The truth?"
She stepped back.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"But everyone keeps hurting me with it."
Before anyone could respond...
A car stopped outside the vineyard.
Doors opened.
Footsteps approached.
Then a voice called out:
"Mariana."
Everyone froze.
Because they knew that voice.
Elena Salcedo.
Mariana's mother.
The woman who pushed her son into the ocean.
The woman who ordered her death.
She walked into the vineyard alone.
And she was holding a weapon.
But she wasn't pointing it at Mariana.
She was pointing it at herself.
"I came here because you deserve the truth."
Everyone stared.
Elena looked at her daughter.
And whispered:
"Rodrigo wasn't the one who started this."
A pause.
"The person who destroyed our family..."
May you like
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Was me."
