CHAPTER 8 THE NAME THAT TERRIFIED THE SALCEDO FAMILY
The hospital room remained frozen.
Mariana stared at the final words written on Gabriel's old letter.
The ink was faded.
The paper was damaged by time.
But one name was still perfectly clear.
ALEJANDRO SALCEDO.
She looked at Santiago.
"Who is Alejandro?"
For several seconds, Santiago didn't answer.
And that frightened Mariana more than anything.
Because Santiago had faced criminals, threats, and impossible situations without fear.
But now...
He looked terrified.
"Tell me."
Santiago slowly sat down.
"Alejandro Salcedo was the beginning."
"The beginning of what?"
"The empire."
Mariana looked at Gabriel.
"You know about him?"
Gabriel nodded.
"Everyone in the family knows his name."
"Nobody speaks it."
"Why?"
Gabriel's expression became serious.
"Because Alejandro was not the kind of man people remembered."
"He was the kind of man people tried to forget."
Decades earlier, Alejandro Salcedo built the foundation of the family fortune.
Officially, he was a visionary businessman.
A genius.
A man who turned a small company into a global empire.
But behind closed doors...
People whispered different stories.
Deals made in secret.
Enemies who disappeared.
Records that vanished.
Alejandro created a simple rule.
The Salcedo family survived because nobody outside the family knew the truth.
And anyone who threatened that truth...
Disappeared.
Mariana looked down at the letter again.
"Why would Gabriel write his name?"
Gabriel answered quietly.
"Because Alejandro was the only person who knew everything."
"Everything about what?"
Gabriel looked at Rodrigo's name on the documents.
"The truth about your father's rise."
A pause.
"And the truth about why your mother was forced to choose between two brothers."
Mariana frowned.
"Two brothers?"
Gabriel nodded.
"Rodrigo and me."
The room went silent.
"Wait."
Mariana looked confused.
"You're saying Rodrigo and you..."
"Yes."
Gabriel looked at her.
"We were brothers."
The revelation felt impossible.
Rodrigo Salcedo wasn't just the man who stole Gabriel's identity.
He was family.
Gabriel continued.
"My father, Alejandro, had two sons."
"Rodrigo was the ambitious one."
"I was the one who wanted to leave."
Mariana listened carefully.
"When Alejandro became sick, the company needed a successor."
"Rodrigo believed he deserved everything."
"But my father chose me."
The room became colder.
"And that was the moment Rodrigo decided I had to disappear."
Mariana's hands tightened.
"So this entire thing..."
She looked at Gabriel.
"The yacht."
"The lies."
"My attempted murder."
"Was because of a family inheritance?"
Gabriel shook his head.
"No."
"Something bigger."
He reached into his coat.
He pulled out an old envelope.
"I found this before Rodrigo attacked me."
Mariana opened it.
Inside was a document.
A list of names.
Payments.
Secret accounts.
And one sentence written across the top:
PROJECT BLACK OCEAN.
Santiago's face changed.
"Where did you get this?"
Gabriel looked at him.
"From Alejandro's private vault."
Mariana looked between them.
"What is Project Black Ocean?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Finally Santiago whispered:
"The reason your family tried to kill you."
Meanwhile...
At the Salcedo mansion, Rodrigo was losing control.
The news channels were showing the wedding footage repeatedly.
His reputation was collapsing.
His business partners were withdrawing.
The world that once feared him was beginning to question him.
He threw a glass against the wall.
"This cannot happen."
The woman sitting across from him remained calm.
She had been silent all night.
Finally, she removed her sunglasses.
Rodrigo looked up.
And froze.
"Impossible..."
She smiled.
"Did you really think I would stay hidden forever?"
Rodrigo stepped backward.
"You were supposed to be dead."
She laughed softly.
"Everyone in this family loves pretending dead people stay dead."
Back at the hospital...
Mariana finally opened the last page of Gabriel's letter.
Only one sentence was written there.
Her face immediately changed.
Santiago noticed.
"What does it say?"
Mariana didn't answer.
She handed him the paper.
Santiago read it.
Then his expression disappeared.
"What?"
Mariana looked at him.
"Read it."
Slowly, Santiago spoke the words:
"Mariana, if you are reading this, it means Rodrigo failed to destroy you. But there is something you must know..."
He continued.
"The person who ordered your death was not Rodrigo."
Silence.
Mariana felt her heart stop.
"What?"
Santiago kept reading.
His voice became quieter.
"Rodrigo was only following orders."
Everyone stared at the page.
Then came the final line.
"The person who wanted you gone is someone you trust."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because suddenly the enemy was no longer outside.
It was someone close.
Someone who knew Mariana.
Someone who knew her weaknesses.
Someone who had been pretending to help.
Gabriel looked toward Santiago.
Santiago looked toward Gabriel.
And Mariana realized something terrifying.
There was another secret.
One they were both hiding.
The next morning, a package arrived at the hospital.
No sender.
No address.
Inside was a single photograph.
Mariana picked it up.
Her blood ran cold.
It was a picture taken the night of the yacht attack.
But there was something impossible in the background.
Someone standing on the deck.
Someone watching.
Someone who was never mentioned in the footage.
May you like
And written on the back of the photo were five words:
YOU MISSED THE REAL KILLER.
