Chapter 6 - THE SECOND ATTACK
Sofía threw herself across Mateo’s bassinet.
The masked woman pulled a syringe from the blanket.
Valeria grabbed her wrist.
The syringe struck the floor.
Nicolás seized the woman from behind.
She kicked backward and hit his knee.
A guard rushed into the room.
The attacker twisted free and ran.
Valeria picked up the syringe.
“Do not touch it,” Sofía shouted.
Valeria froze.
A clear drop trembled at the needle’s tip.
Dr. Marín sealed it inside a specimen container.
The guards dragged the masked woman back into the room.
Her cap had fallen off.
She was young.
No older than twenty-five.
Sofía had never seen her before.
Nicolás ripped away the mask.
“Who sent you?”
The woman smiled through rapid breaths.
“You already know.”
“Say his name.”
“I want immunity.”
“You entered my son’s room with a syringe.”
“I was told it was a sedative.”
Dr. Marín looked at the liquid.
“This is not a sedative.”
The woman’s smile disappeared.
“What is it?”
“A muscle-paralyzing agent.”
The attacker looked toward the door.
Mauricio stood there.
He had returned without anyone noticing.
The young woman pointed at him.
“He hired me.”
Mauricio drew a second weapon from his ankle.
Nicolás moved first.
He struck Mauricio’s wrist against the doorframe.
The weapon fell.
Two guards forced him to the floor.
Mauricio laughed.
“You think Adrián trusted me with the whole plan?”
Nicolás pressed his shoe against the weapon.
“Where is he?”
“Far away.”
“He left you behind.”
“He paid me enough.”
“Then why did you come back?”
Mauricio looked toward the attacker.
“To clean a mistake.”
The young woman began crying.
“You said no one would be hurt.”
“You walked into an infant’s room with a needle.”
“You said it contained a tracking chip.”
Sofía looked at her.
“Who are you?”
“Daniela Ruiz.”
“What is your connection to Adrián?”
“I worked at the clinic.”
“Dr. Montalvo’s clinic?”
Daniela nodded.
“He paid me to switch samples.”
Valeria covered her mouth.
“The DNA reports.”
“Yes.”
“Which one was real?”
“The one proving Nicolás is the father.”
Nicolás closed his eyes for one second.
Then he looked at Mauricio.
“Where is Adrián?”
Mauricio smiled.
“He said you would ask the wrong questions.”
“What question should I ask?”
“Who benefits after you destroy your mother, your child’s mother, and yourself?”
Sofía studied him.
“You want Nicolás to believe everyone betrayed him.”
Mauricio’s smile faded.
“You are smarter than your uniform suggests.”
“And you are not as loyal as your salary suggested.”
Nicolás ordered both prisoners taken to separate rooms.
Detective Elena Cruz arrived from the federal organized crime unit.
She had been investigating financial transfers from Velasco International for months.
Nicolás did not welcome her.
“I did not call federal police.”
“I was called by someone who believes your son’s attempted murder is connected to international fraud.”
“Who?”
Elena looked at Sofía.
“She did.”
Nicolás turned.
“When?”
“While you were searching the west wing.”
“You invited federal agents into my home.”
“I invited someone Adrián could not fire.”
A trace of anger passed over Nicolás’s face.
Then Mateo moved in the bassinet.
The anger vanished.
“Do what you need to do,” he said.
Elena searched Daniela’s belongings.
They found a disposable phone.
The latest message contained a photograph of Sofía entering the mansion.
Below it were four words.
Make the nurse look guilty.
Elena opened Sofía’s medical bag.
A small vial fell from an interior pocket.
It matched the concentrated chemical found in the nursery bottle.
Sofía stared at it.
“That is not mine.”
Elena found a bank notification on the disposable phone.
A transfer of two million pesos had been sent to an account under Sofía Reyes’s name.
Nicolás looked at her.
She saw the doubt before he hid it.
“You believe this?”
“I believe someone prepared carefully.”
“That was not my question.”
Elena stepped between them.
“Sofía Reyes, I need you to come with me.”
Valeria shook her head.
“She saved Mateo.”
“That does not erase planted evidence.”
“It proves the evidence is planted.”
Elena looked at Sofía.
“Did anyone handle your bag?”
“Don Esteban carried it upstairs.”
The elderly butler looked stricken.
“I left it outside the office for less than a minute.”
Leonor spoke from the corner.
“I warned you about bringing strangers here.”
Sofía turned toward her.
“You are alive because I am not the kind of stranger Adrián hired.”
Elena placed handcuffs around Sofía’s wrists.
Mateo woke.
He began crying.
Sofía looked back at him as the officers led her away.
Nicolás stood beside the bassinet.
He did not stop them.
As the medical wing doors closed, Mateo’s crying became a scream.
Then Luca ran into the corridor holding Sofía’s missing phone.
May you like
“There is a video,” he shouted.
“I saw who put the bottle in her bag.”
