Chapter 7: The Voice of a Dead Man
The bedroom fell into complete silence.
Diego stared at the evidence bag in Carlos's hand.
Thirty-seven recordings.
Five years of secret conversations.
Every instinct told him to play them immediately.
Another instinct warned him that whoever had hidden them had never intended for them to be found.
He looked toward the police investigator.
"Has anyone listened to them?"
"Only enough to confirm they contain audio."
"No copies?"
"Not yet."
"Good."
Diego extended his hand.
"I'll take them."
The investigator hesitated.
"They're now evidence in an active investigation."
Diego met his eyes.
"So seal them properly."
Ten minutes later, everyone gathered inside the mansion's conference room.
Present were Diego, Carmen, Carlos, two detectives, and Paulina.
The USB drive sat in the center of the table.
One detective inserted it into a secure laptop.
Thirty-seven folders appeared.
Each file carried only a date.
No descriptions.
No names.
The earliest recording was almost five years old.
Diego nodded.
"Play the first one."
Static filled the room.
Then two voices emerged.
The first belonged unmistakably to Alejandro Villaseñor.
Calm.
Controlled.
Powerful.
The second voice belonged to a younger man.
Diego immediately recognized the name.
Ricardo Castillo.
The consultant.
The surveillance specialist.
Alejandro spoke first.
"Has the woman been located?"
"Yes."
"Is she still trying to contact Diego?"
"Every day."
A long pause.
Alejandro sighed.
"That cannot continue."
Ricardo answered without emotion.
"My team has already intercepted three letters."
Diego's hands slowly clenched.
Three letters.
Alejandro continued.
"What about the phone calls?"
"We redirected them."
"And Diego suspects nothing?"
"No."
Another pause.
Then Alejandro said something that made the entire room freeze.
"My son believes love is stronger than money."
A faint laugh followed.
"He will eventually learn that information is stronger than both."
The recording ended.
No one spoke.
Carmen quietly lowered her head.
Paulina closed her eyes.
Diego reached for the next recording.
"Play it."
The second file had been recorded six months later.
Alejandro sounded irritated.
Ricardo spoke first.
"Marisol is seven months pregnant."
"I know."
"She refuses every offer."
"Increase the pressure."
"We've already frozen her apartment lease."
"Then remove her job."
"Done."
Diego's breathing became uneven.
Each sentence revealed another piece of the nightmare Marisol had survived.
Ricardo continued.
"She still believes Diego abandoned her."
"Excellent."
There was no trace of guilt in Alejandro's voice.
"As long as she hates him, she will never return."
The audio ended.
Carmen quietly covered her face.
"Oh, Alejandro..."
Diego looked at his mother.
"You truly didn't know."
She shook her head through tears.
"I knew he wanted them apart."
Her voice trembled.
"I never imagined..."
"...he destroyed her entire life."
Across the city, Marisol received another call from Lucía.
"I've found Ricardo."
Marisol immediately stood.
"Where?"
"He owns a ranch outside Toluca."
"I thought he disappeared."
"He wanted people to think that."
Lucía lowered her voice.
"But someone has been visiting him."
"Who?"
"I followed the license plate."
Marisol waited.
"It belongs to the Villaseñor Foundation."
Her heart skipped.
"Diego?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Lucía answered carefully.
"Carmen."
Marisol sat down heavily.
"Diego's mother?"
"She visited Ricardo twice this year."
Marisol stared silently at the wall.
Had Carmen really been trying to hide the truth?
Or had she been protecting it all along?
Back at the mansion, Diego opened Recording Three.
This one began in the middle of an argument.
Ricardo sounded frustrated.
"The driver refuses."
Alejandro's tone became colder.
"Then replace him."
"He won't cooperate."
"He doesn't need to cooperate."
Diego frowned.
Driver.
Esteban.
Ricardo continued.
"He says you're destroying your own son."
Alejandro laughed quietly.
"My son will thank me one day."
"No."
Ricardo replied.
"He'll hate you."
Several seconds passed.
Then Alejandro said the words that changed everything.
"If necessary..."
"I'll make the child disappear before I allow her to inherit this family."
The room went perfectly still.
Nobody breathed.
Nobody moved.
Carmen's hand flew to her mouth.
Paulina looked physically ill.
Carlos whispered,
"My God..."
Diego stood so abruptly that his chair crashed backward.
"No."
His voice shook.
"No..."
He replayed the sentence.
Again.
And again.
There was no misunderstanding.
His father had spoken those words clearly.
"If necessary..."
"I'll make the child disappear."
Diego shut the laptop.
Hard.
"I've heard enough."
Paulina followed him into the hallway.
"Diego."
He kept walking.
"Diego, please."
He stopped.
Without turning around, he asked,
"Did you know?"
She answered immediately.
"No."
"If I find out you're lying..."
"I'm not."
She stepped closer.
"I knew he wanted Marisol gone."
"I never knew..."
Her voice broke.
"...I never knew he would say something like that."
Diego finally looked at her.
For the first time since their engagement, he saw fear instead of calculation.
Fear that someone had crossed a line even she had never imagined.
Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers away, inside a secluded ranch surrounded by pine trees...
Ricardo Castillo watched a security monitor.
The screen displayed the Villaseñor conference room.
The same room where Diego had just listened to the recordings.
Ricardo smiled faintly.
"They found the first files."
A younger man stood beside him.
"Should we be worried?"
"No."
"They're getting closer."
"They're getting exactly where I want them."
The younger man looked confused.
"You wanted Diego to hear those recordings?"
Ricardo nodded.
"Only part of them."
He walked toward an old wooden desk.
Inside rested dozens of identical USB drives.
Each one carried a different date.
Different conversations.
Different secrets.
Thirty-seven recordings had been discovered.
But they represented less than half of what existed.
Ricardo picked up another drive labeled:
PRIVATE – DO NOT RELEASE
He inserted it into his computer.
Alejandro's voice filled the room once more.
"Has the DNA report been altered?"
Ricardo answered.
"Yes."
"No one will ever know the truth."
Ricardo stopped the recording before it continued.
He smiled to himself.
"They still believe the mystery is whether Valentina is Diego's daughter."
He looked toward the dark forest outside.
"They have no idea..."
"...that there was another DNA test."
The younger man frowned.
"Another child?"
Ricardo nodded slowly.
"One whose existence could destroy the entire Villaseñor bloodline."
He closed the laptop.
"Prepare the car."
"Where are we going?"
Ricardo's expression hardened.
"To Mexico City."
May you like
"If Diego keeps uncovering the past..."
"...I'll have to finish Alejandro's work myself."
