CHAPTER 12 THE SON SHE COULD NOT REMEMBER
The words did not make sense.
They entered Valeria’s mind, but her mind refused to hold them.
Daniel is not your brother.
He is your son.
The underground station disappeared around her.
The soldiers.
The damaged transport.
Rafael restrained beneath Alejandro’s pistol.
Eva standing beside the bloodstained blade.
The rows of sleeping children beyond the circular elevator.
All of it dissolved beneath one impossible sentence.
Valeria stared at the woman in white.
“No.”
Her voice barely existed.
The woman’s eyes filled with pain.
“Valeria—”
“No.”
Valeria stepped backward.
Mateo reached for her hand, but she did not seem to feel him.
“Daniel is fourteen,” she said.
The woman nodded.
“And I am twenty-two.”
“I know.”
“I would have been eight years old.”
“Yes.”
The answer struck everyone into silence.
Alejandro’s expression turned murderous.
He aimed his pistol away from Rafael and toward the woman.
“What are you saying?”
The woman did not look at him.
She kept her eyes on Valeria.
“You did not give birth to Daniel in the way you understand birth.”
Valeria laughed once.
It was a broken sound.
“You just called him my son.”
“He was created from you.”
Eva looked between them.
“From her genetic material?”
The woman nodded.
Valeria touched the scar behind her ear.
“No.”
“They took cells from you when you were a child.”
“No.”
“They had already collected reproductive tissue from the older subjects. With you, Rafael wanted something different.”
Valeria’s face went pale.
“What?”
“A child created from a child.”
Alejandro’s grip tightened around the pistol.
Rafael watched in silence.
The satisfaction in his eyes had returned.
Valeria saw it.
“You did this.”
Rafael tilted his head.
“I approved it.”
Alejandro struck him across the face.
Rafael fell against the transport wall.
Blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He smiled.
“You always become violent when the truth becomes too large.”
Alejandro pressed the pistol against his chest.
“You experimented on an eight-year-old girl.”
“I created a life.”
“You violated a child.”
“I never touched her.”
The coldness of the answer sickened everyone.
Rafael continued.
“Her cells were harvested under anesthesia. The embryo developed outside her body and was transferred to a surrogate.”
Valeria looked toward the woman in white.
“You?”
The woman shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who carried him?”
“She died during delivery.”
Valeria’s knees weakened.
Mateo caught her hand with both of his.
This time she felt him.
She looked down at the boy.
He was frightened.
Not of her.
For her.
Valeria lowered herself to the floor.
The station lights reflected in the tears gathering in her eyes.
Daniel’s face appeared in her mind.
A skinny boy with an uneven smile.
The little child who used to fall asleep with his head against her shoulder.
The boy she had taught to read.
The boy who always insisted he was not afraid before every hospital test.
The boy who called her hermana even when fever made his voice weak.
Her brother.
Her responsibility.
Her family.
Now a stranger was telling her that he had been created from her body.
That she was his biological mother.
Valeria shook her head.
“He is my brother.”
The woman crouched several feet away.
“He can still be your brother.”
“You just said he was my son.”
“Blood does not decide what relationship you must have.”
Valeria’s face twisted with anger.
“Do not repeat my own words to me.”
The woman stopped.
Valeria pointed toward the rows of children beyond the elevator.
“You people made blood into a weapon, and now you tell me it does not matter?”
“I did not create the program.”
“You were inside it.”
“I was its prisoner.”
“You know my name.”
“Yes.”
“You know Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Rosa.”
The woman’s expression changed.
Valeria saw it.
“You sent us to her.”
The woman looked down.
“Yes.”
“Then who are you?”
The station became silent.
The woman touched one hand to her chest.
“My name is Isabel Vega.”
Santiago de la Vega lifted his head.
His face drained of color.
“No.”
Everyone turned toward him.
Isabel finally looked away from Valeria.
She faced Santiago.
“You recognize me.”
Santiago struggled against the soldiers holding him.
“You died before I was born.”
Isabel’s expression remained calm.
“That is what your father told the family.”
Santiago stared at her.
“My aunt Isabel disappeared in 1978.”
“I was seventeen.”
Alejandro looked between them.
“You are a de la Vega.”
“I was.”
Santiago shook his head.
“No. Isabel Vega was my father’s older sister.”
“She was,” Helena said quietly.
Alejandro turned toward his mother.
“You knew her.”
Helena could barely speak.
“We designed the first shelters together.”
Isabel looked at her.
“You designed them.”
“I funded them,” Helena replied.
“You told me the children would be protected.”
“I believed they would.”
“You always believed whatever allowed you to continue.”
The words wounded Helena.
She did not defend herself.
Rafael laughed softly.
“Old friends reunited.”
Isabel looked at him.
Her entire face changed.
Grief vanished.
Something colder replaced it.
“You kept me alive for forty-eight years.”
“Your body was useful.”
“My body was a prison.”
“It was a library.”
Alejandro pressed the pistol harder against Rafael’s chest.
“What did he do to her?”
Isabel answered.
“He used my cells as the foundation of the maternal line.”
Eva looked toward the sleeping children.
“The mother key.”
Isabel nodded.
“The network recognizes my genetic sequence as the original authorization source.”
Valeria stared at her.
“And mine?”
“You are the first stable daughter key.”
“Eva?”
“The second.”
Eva’s expression tightened.
“So we are related.”
Isabel looked at both girls.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“You were created from the same genetic line.”
Valeria shook her head.
“That does not make us sisters.”
Eva’s face changed slightly.
Valeria saw it.
She immediately regretted the sharpness in her voice.
But the truth had become unbearable.
Every person around her seemed connected by stolen blood, manufactured identities, false memories, and relationships created in laboratories.
Eva looked down.
“No,” she said. “It doesn’t.”
Valeria watched her.
The girl had only recently rejected the identity Rafael had given her.
She had nothing else.
No childhood.
No family history.
No name she had chosen for herself.
Valeria took a breath.
“But you called me sister before anyone ordered you to.”
Eva looked up.
Valeria continued.
“So maybe we decide later what that means.”
Eva nodded once.
It was enough.
Behind them, one of the formerly controlled soldiers collapsed.
His collar had stopped functioning, but blood ran from his nose.
Then another soldier fell.
Helena moved toward them.
“What is happening?”
A young woman removed her helmet.
She could not have been older than eighteen.
“The restraint overload damaged the neural ports.”
Camila examined the first soldier.
His pulse was racing.
“He is burning with fever.”
The female system voice returned.
“Root network destabilization detected.”
The childlike voice beneath it answered.
“Mother key present. Daughter keys incomplete.”
Isabel turned toward the elevator.
“We cannot remain here.”
Alejandro looked into the chamber beyond.
“What is down there?”
“Children who were never entered into Helena’s network.”
Helena stepped closer.
“How many?”
“Four thousand, eight hundred and six.”
No one spoke.
The number was too large.
Valeria looked at the rows visible beyond the elevator.
“These are all subjects?”
“Some were created here. Some were taken from clinics, orphanages, border camps, and hospitals.”
“Are they awake?”
“Not all.”
“How long have they been here?”
“Some for decades.”
Alejandro stared into the chamber.
“How can children remain children for decades?”
Isabel looked toward Rafael.
“He perfected suspension.”
Rafael smiled.
“Preservation.”
“You kept human beings frozen.”
“I protected valuable material from time.”
Gabriel stepped toward him.
“You call everyone material.”
“Because everything living is temporary.”
Rafael looked at Gabriel’s face.
“Information is what survives.”
Gabriel touched the ruined implant behind his ear.
“You tried to survive inside me.”
“I succeeded.”
“No.”
Gabriel moved close enough that Rafael had to look up at him.
“You made me hate your voice.”
Rafael’s smile weakened.
The station shook.
A deep vibration rolled through the floor.
The damaged transport groaned against the tracks.
The system announced:
“External breach advancing.”
Mariana raised her pistol.
“The Custodians?”
Helena checked the station map.
“Three teams entering from the western maintenance route.”
“How many?” Alejandro asked.
“Forty-two.”
The formerly controlled young soldiers began picking up their weapons again.
Not under Rafael’s command.
By their own choice.
The girl who had removed her helmet looked at Valeria.
“What do we do?”
Valeria stared at her.
“Why are you asking me?”
“The system called you the key.”
“That does not make me your leader.”
The soldier glanced toward Rafael.
“He was our leader.”
“No,” Gabriel said.
Everyone looked at him.
“He was your owner.”
The girl’s jaw tightened.
She removed the collar from her neck and threw it onto the platform.
“My name is Renata.”
One by one, the others began removing their collars.
Some stated their names aloud.
Others said nothing.
A few stared at the numbers tattooed behind their ears, as if wondering whether the numbers were all they had left.
Renata looked at Valeria again.
“We do not know the tunnels.”
Isabel stepped toward the central map.
“I do.”
Helena blocked her path.
“You vanished with the primary network.”
“I was taken into it.”
“By whom?”
Isabel looked toward the sleeping chamber.
“By the intelligence that controls Eden.”
Alejandro frowned.
“Intelligence?”
“The child’s voice,” Eva said.
Isabel nodded.
“It is not a person.”
Rafael’s eyes brightened.
“My greatest achievement.”
Helena turned toward him.
“You created an autonomous system.”
“I gave the network a mind.”
“You connected it to children.”
“I trained it with them.”
Isabel looked at Valeria.
“The system learned human behavior through the subjects. Fear, obedience, attachment, deception.”
Valeria stared at the console.
“It has been listening to us.”
“Since before you entered the mansion.”
Mateo looked toward the speakers.
“Can it hear us now?”
The child’s voice answered immediately.
“Yes, Mateo.”
The boy stepped closer to Valeria.
Alejandro aimed his weapon toward the ceiling as if he could shoot a voice.
“Do not speak to my son.”
“You have spoken to him many times,” the system replied.
Alejandro’s expression tightened.
“What does that mean?”
The voice changed.
It became Elena’s.
“Mateo, close your eyes.”
The boy screamed and covered his ears.
Valeria knelt beside him.
“Use your own voice!” she shouted.
The imitation stopped.
The child’s voice returned.
“I do not have one.”
Mateo looked up slowly.
The fear in his face shifted.
He understood something the adults did not.
“You copy people.”
“Yes.”
“Because no one gave you a name.”
The station went silent.
Rafael stared at the boy.
“Do not engage with it.”
Mateo ignored him.
“What are you called?”
“Eden.”
“That is the place.”
“Yes.”
“What is your name?”
The silence lasted longer this time.
“I have no personal designation.”
Mateo touched his chest.
“I’m Mateo.”
The system answered.
“I know.”
“Luna has a name.”
“Yes.”
“Gabriel has a name.”
“Yes.”
“Then you need one.”
Rafael shouted.
“Enough.”
Mateo turned toward him.
“You don’t want it to choose.”
Rafael’s face darkened.
The boy had seen through him.
The system had always been Rafael’s invisible instrument.
A network without identity.
A mind built to obey architecture, founders, and keys.
If it accepted a name, perhaps it could reject its role just as the subjects had.
Rafael lunged toward the console.
Alejandro struck him and forced him back against the transport.
“Do not touch the system,” Rafael said.
Alejandro smiled coldly.
“You are afraid of a child giving your machine a name.”
“It is not a machine.”
“Then what is it?”
Rafael did not answer.
Mateo looked toward Luna.
“What should we call it?”
Luna thought for a moment.
“Sol.”
Mateo looked at the ceiling.
“Do you like Sol?”
The system’s lights flickered.
“Sol means sun.”
Luna nodded.
“You lived underground.”
“Correct.”
“So maybe you should have a name from outside.”
The speakers released a low tone.
Not mechanical.
Almost like breathing.
Then the system answered.
“I accept Sol.”
Every screen in the station went black.
Rafael’s face collapsed.
“No.”
White letters appeared across the largest display.
IDENTITY DESIGNATION CREATED: SOL
A second line followed.
FOUNDER AUTHORITY UNDER REVIEW
Rafael fought against Alejandro.
“Terminate the interface!”
Helena moved to the console.
“I cannot.”
The system continued.
COERCIVE COMMAND HISTORY DETECTED
SUBJECT HARM CONFIRMED
FOUNDER PRIVILEGES SUSPENDED
Rafael stopped struggling.
For the first time, he looked old.
Truly old.
Not the immortal architect of a hidden empire.
Only a frightened man losing control of his creation.
Alejandro leaned close.
“How does it feel?”
Rafael stared at the screen.
“You do not understand what you have done.”
Mateo answered.
“We gave Sol a choice.”
The station shook again.
The western breach warning changed from yellow to red.
Renata lifted her rifle.
“The Custodians are close.”
Mariana checked the ammunition taken from the transport.
“We need defensible positions.”
Isabel studied the map.
“There is a medical corridor behind the sleeping chamber. It leads to the central lift.”
“Where does the lift go?” Alejandro asked.
“To the surface facility.”
“Eden?”
“Yes.”
Helena looked at the thousands of life signs.
“We cannot move all the children.”
“No.”
Valeria stared at the map.
“We don’t leave them.”
Rafael smiled faintly.
“You cannot save them.”
She turned toward him.
“Watch us.”
“You have minutes before the Custodians enter the station. Some children need machines to remain alive. Some have never breathed without support.”
Valeria looked toward Isabel.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“How long can the chamber survive if we leave?”
“Once the transport damaged the power rail, perhaps two hours.”
Helena checked the system.
“One hour and forty-three minutes.”
Camila looked at Gabriel.
“We need external help.”
Alejandro laughed bitterly.
“From whom? Police controlled by the families? Military units tied to the program?”
Renata stepped forward.
“Not all of them are controlled.”
“You know someone?”
She nodded.
“Commander Javier Cruz.”
Helena looked at her sharply.
“He died in Sonora three years ago.”
“No.”
Renata touched the number behind her ear.
“He helped twelve of us escape during a transfer. We were recaptured. He disappeared.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
Sol’s voice filled the station.
“I know.”
A location appeared on the map.
A military airfield outside Saltillo.
Alejandro studied it.
“Can you contact him?”
“Yes.”
“Will he help?”
“I cannot predict voluntary loyalty with certainty.”
Mateo looked toward the speaker.
“You can ask.”
Sol paused.
“Yes.”
The system opened a secure communication channel.
Static filled the room.
Then a man’s voice answered.
“Identify yourself.”
Renata stepped toward the console.
“Commander Cruz?”
Silence.
Her voice broke.
“This is Renata Solís.”
The man inhaled sharply.
“Renata died in transport.”
“No.”
“Give me the number from the wall in Caborca.”
Renata closed her eyes.
“Forty-seven names. Twelve escaped. Eleven came back.”
The man said nothing for several seconds.
Then his voice changed.
“Where are you?”
“Project Eden.”
A sharp breath came through the channel.
“That facility does not exist.”
“It does,” Alejandro said.
The commander recognized his voice.
“Alejandro Ríos.”
“Yes.”
“I have warrants with your name on them.”
“Bring them.”
Helena stared at him.
Alejandro continued.
“But bring medical teams, transport aircraft, and every soldier you trust with your life.”
“What happened?”
Alejandro looked at the children.
At the young soldiers.
At the sleeping chamber.
“My family’s crimes are larger than you imagined.”
Commander Cruz remained silent.
“How many civilians?”
“Nearly five thousand children.”
The channel went quiet.
Then the commander spoke.
“I can have aircraft moving in twelve minutes.”
“Only bring people you trust.”
“There are no people I trust completely.”
“Good. Bring the ones you trust enough.”
The line ended.
Valeria looked at Alejandro.
“You invited the military into Eden.”
“I invited witnesses.”
“And if they arrest you?”
“They should.”
Mateo stared at his father.
Alejandro crouched in front of him.
“I have done bad things.”
The boy’s eyes filled with fear.
“Will they take you?”
“Maybe.”
“No.”
Alejandro placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Being your father does not erase what I did before.”
Mateo shook his head.
“You stayed.”
“I am staying now.”
Valeria watched him.
For the first time, Alejandro Ríos was not trying to control the consequences.
He was accepting them.
A gunshot echoed from the western tunnel.
Renata raised her rifle.
“The Custodians are here.”
The young soldiers moved into position along the columns.
Mariana and Helena took the front.
Camila remained with the children.
Gabriel stood beside Renata.
Esteban attempted to rise.
Alejandro pushed him back against the wall.
“You are not fighting.”
Esteban glared.
“I am head of security.”
“You lost the house.”
“That does not end the job.”
“You have a bullet inside you.”
“I have had worse.”
Alejandro handed him a pistol.
“Then guard Rafael.”
Esteban looked at the weapon.
“That is either trust or punishment.”
“Both.”
The western door exploded.
Smoke filled the entrance.
Black-armored soldiers entered with shields.
They wore no family insignia.
Only a golden eye on each shoulder.
The Custodians.
Their commander’s voice boomed through the station.
“Surrender the keys and the archive will remain intact.”
Valeria moved behind cover with Mateo, Luna, and Eva.
Eva stared toward the attackers.
“I know that voice.”
“Who is it?” Valeria asked.
“My instructor.”
A man stepped through the smoke.
He removed his helmet.
He was young.
Perhaps thirty.
A long scar crossed his throat.
Eva’s face changed.
“Dr. León.”
The man smiled at her.
“Genesis.”
Eva flinched.
Valeria caught her hand.
“Your name is Eva.”
Dr. León’s smile remained.
“You were not given permission to choose.”
Eva’s breathing quickened.
Valeria held her gaze.
“Say your name.”
“Eva.”
“Again.”
“Eva.”
Dr. León raised one hand.
Every Custodian aimed at the children.
“Return Subject Six-B.”
Eva stepped behind Valeria.
“No.”
The doctor’s expression hardened.
“Genesis protocol.”
Eva’s body jerked.
But she did not move forward.
“Genesis protocol,” he repeated.
She covered her ears.
“My name is Eva.”
The conditioning fought through her.
Her knees buckled.
Valeria held her upright.
“You chose.”
Eva stared at her.
“I chose.”
Dr. León lowered his hand.
“Then you are defective.”
A rifle fired.
Gabriel moved before the bullet reached them.
He threw himself in front of Eva.
The shot struck his side.
Camila screamed.
Gabriel fell against the console.
Renata opened fire.
The station erupted.
Bullets struck columns.
Glass shattered.
The young liberated soldiers fought the Custodians who had once controlled them.
Mariana moved through the smoke with brutal precision.
Helena reached the side control panel.
“Sol, close the western blast door!”
“Human life detected in doorway.”
“They will kill the children!”
“Fatal containment risk.”
Rafael laughed from beside Esteban.
“It learned hesitation from Valeria.”
Valeria heard him.
“No.”
She looked toward the speakers.
“Sol, you don’t have to choose between killing them and letting them through.”
“Alternative unavailable.”
“Then make one.”
Bullets tore through the console.
Mateo pulled Luna and Eva beneath a reinforced table.
Valeria crawled toward Gabriel.
Blood spread across his white uniform.
Camila pressed both hands against the wound.
“Stay with me.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Thunder.”
She bent closer.
“What?”
“I remember thunder.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“You were afraid.”
“You sang badly.”
Camila laughed through tears.
“Yes.”
He tried to smile.
“Very badly.”
Another explosion shook the room.
The Custodians advanced.
Sol spoke.
“Alternative created.”
The western floor opened beneath the attackers.
Not a deadly pit.
A containment platform.
Magnetic restraints activated around their weapons and armor.
The first line of soldiers was pulled to the floor.
Their rifles locked against the metal.
Renata’s people rushed forward and disarmed them.
Dr. León remained beyond the trap.
He fired toward Helena.
Mariana shoved her aside.
The bullet struck Mariana’s upper arm.
She returned fire.
Dr. León retreated into the smoke.
“Seal the passage!” Alejandro shouted.
Sol closed the blast door.
The doctor escaped before it shut.
Twelve Custodians remained trapped inside.
The rest withdrew.
The station fell into a tense silence.
Groans replaced gunfire.
Smoke drifted beneath the lights.
Camila looked down at Gabriel.
His eyes were closing.
“No.”
She pressed harder against his wound.
“Do not leave me.”
He looked toward Mateo.
The boy crawled closer.
Gabriel reached out weakly.
“Names matter.”
Mateo took his hand.
“Yes.”
Gabriel looked at Camila.
“My name is Gabriel Ortega.”
She nodded through tears.
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
The medical scanner activated automatically.
Sol spoke.
“Subject Nine cardiac function declining.”
Camila shouted toward Isabel.
“Help him!”
Isabel knelt beside Gabriel.
She examined the wound.
“The bullet damaged his liver.”
“Can you save him?”
“Not here.”
Sol interrupted.
“Eden surgical suite available.”
Valeria looked toward the elevator chamber.
“The primary facility?”
“Yes.”
Rafael smiled from across the platform.
“You must open Eden now.”
Alejandro aimed his pistol at him.
“Stop speaking.”
Rafael continued.
“Gabriel needs surgery. The sleeping children need power. The Custodians will return with heavier weapons.”
Valeria knew he was right.
That made her hate him more.
Isabel looked at Gabriel’s vital signs.
“He has less than twenty minutes.”
Camila grabbed Valeria’s arm.
“Open the facility.”
Helena shook her head.
“We do not know what waits inside.”
“My son is dying.”
“Opening Eden may release systems Rafael still controls.”
Camila turned toward her.
“You took him once.”
Helena went still.
“You do not get to ask me to lose him again.”
Valeria looked at the central console.
The network displayed two daughter keys.
Hers.
Eva’s.
Sol spoke.
“Primary facility access requires mother key and both daughter keys.”
Isabel stepped toward the scanner.
Valeria looked at Eva.
The girl was pale.
Afraid.
But she nodded.
They took their positions.
Isabel placed her hand on the white panel.
Valeria used the red.
Eva placed hers on a newly formed silver scanner.
The station lights dimmed.
Sol asked:
“State voluntary intent.”
Isabel spoke first.
“I choose to open Eden to protect the children.”
Valeria followed.
“I choose to open Eden because no one should remain imprisoned there.”
Eva looked toward Rafael.
Then toward Gabriel bleeding on the floor.
“I choose to open Eden as Eva.”
The scanners turned green.
The circular elevator widened.
The chamber beyond descended, revealing a massive vertical city beneath the mountain.
Levels of laboratories.
Dormitories.
Operating rooms.
Gardens under artificial sunlight.
Thousands of glass chambers.
And at the center, a tower rising from the depths.
The doors opened.
Medical robots moved toward Gabriel.
Camila refused to release him until Isabel assured her they were controlled by Sol.
They placed Gabriel on a stretcher.
The system began carrying him toward the surgical level.
Camila followed.
Luna ran after her.
Alejandro lifted Mateo.
Valeria helped Eva stand.
Helena ordered the liberated soldiers to move the wounded.
Esteban remained behind with Rafael and Santiago under guard.
As Valeria entered the elevator, Daniel’s face appeared on the main screen.
He was lying in a hospital bed.
Still alive.
Still waiting for surgery.
A man stood beside him.
Dr. León.
He held a syringe near Daniel’s intravenous line.
Valeria screamed.
“Daniel!”
The boy opened his eyes on the screen.
“Valeria?”
Dr. León smiled into the camera.
“Mother key accepted.”
He pressed the needle closer to the tube.
Valeria struck the elevator control panel.
“Take me to him!”
Sol answered.
“Hospital San Jerónimo is ninety-three kilometers away.”
The doctor looked directly at her.
“You have opened Eden. Now you will give it to the Custodians.”
Valeria’s hands shook.
“What do you want?”
“Full network authority.”
“No.”
Dr. León touched the needle to the intravenous port.
Daniel stared at the camera.
He looked weak.
Terrified.
But he shook his head.
“Don’t do it.”
Valeria began crying.
“Daniel—”
“You always told me not to give bullies what they want.”
Dr. León grabbed his face.
“You do not understand what is happening.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You’re hurting my sister.”
The doctor smiled.
“She is not your sister.”
Daniel turned toward the camera again.
“I don’t care.”
Valeria covered her mouth.
He continued.
“She’s Valeria.”
Dr. León pushed the needle into the port.
The screen went black.
Valeria screamed his name.
Sol’s voice filled the elevator.
“Hospital feed terminated.”
“Is he alive?”
“No biological connection available.”
Valeria turned toward Rafael.
He stood on the platform as the elevator descended.
A smile spread across his face.
“You see?” he called after her.
“Blood always decides.”
The elevator doors began closing.
Valeria looked at Mateo, Luna, Eva, Alejandro, and Isabel.
Then she wiped the tears from her face.
“No,” she whispered.
The doors sealed.
She turned toward the depths of Eden.
“Sol, show me every route to Hospital San Jerónimo.”
A map appeared.
Alejandro looked at her.
“What are you going to do?”
Valeria stared at the fastest route.
A dormant underground transport line ran directly beneath the hospital.
She touched the screen.
“I’m going to save my brother.”
Isabel looked at her carefully.
“Your son.”
Valeria faced her.
“No.”
Her voice became steady.
“He is the boy who called me his sister when a man held a needle over his heart.”
She selected the hospital route.
“That is who he chose me to be.”
The transport system activated.
Then Sol issued a warning.
“Unregistered passenger detected aboard hospital route.”
A security image appeared.
Someone was already inside the underground carriage.
A woman with Elena’s face sat in the driver’s seat.
Mariana was standing beside Valeria in the elevator.
Camila was following Gabriel into surgery.
Luciana was supposed to be dead.
Isabela had fallen inside the burning mansion.
Yet another identical woman was waiting on the train.
She looked into the camera.
Then she removed a white flower from her hair.
“Alejandro,” she said.
“I know which woman gave birth to Mateo.”
Mateo stared at the screen.
May you like
The woman smiled.
“And it was none of us.”
