Chapter 5 - The Doctor Who Could Not Speak
Marisol screamed.
Diego reached Dr. Salazar first.
The doctor was conscious, but his face had turned gray.
His fingers clutched his chest.
“Call an ambulance!”
Gabriel immediately contacted emergency services.
Valentina began to cry.
Marisol lifted her into her arms and carried her away from the commotion.
Diego knelt beside the doctor.
“What happened?”
Dr. Salazar tried to speak.
No sound came out.
One of the officers found a small glass beside the chair where the doctor had been sitting.
A bitter chemical odor rose from the remaining liquid.
Diego looked toward Paulina.
She was no longer smiling.
“I did not give him anything.”
“No one accused you yet,” the officer said.
Paulina realized she had spoken too quickly.
The paramedics arrived within minutes.
They placed Dr. Salazar on a stretcher and rushed him toward the ambulance.
Before they carried him out, the doctor grabbed Diego’s wrist.
“Result…”
His voice was weak.
“Correct.”
Diego leaned closer.
“What?”
“The test was correct.”
Dr. Salazar struggled for breath.
“Your daughter.”
Then his hand fell away.
The paramedics carried him outside.
The officer turned toward Paulina.
“You need to come with us.”
Paulina lifted her chin.
“I want my lawyer.”
“You may call one from the station.”
“My father will have your badge by sunset.”
The officer did not react.
Gabriel searched the guest room where Paulina had been staying.
Inside her handbag, he found an empty vial.
The label matched medication Dr. Salazar had been prescribed for a heart condition.
Paulina stared at it.
“That is not mine.”
“It was in your bag,” Gabriel said.
“Someone planted it.”
Marisol stepped forward.
“Just like you planted lies around my daughter?”
Paulina glared at her.
“You should be careful.”
“You are not protected just because Diego feels guilty.”
Diego moved between them.
“She is protected because she is in my home.”
Paulina smiled faintly.
“Your home?”
She looked around the hall.
“You may not have it for much longer.”
Diego’s eyes narrowed.
“What did you do?”
Paulina said nothing.
The police led her outside.
As she passed Marisol, she leaned close enough to whisper.
“By tomorrow morning, the entire country will know what kind of woman you are.”
Marisol held Valentina tighter.
Paulina was placed in the police vehicle.
A black sedan waited across the street.
The moment the police car drove away, the sedan disappeared in the opposite direction.
Gabriel noticed it.
“So did I,” Diego said.
“Find out who was inside.”
Marisol looked at him.
“You believe Paulina planned something else?”
“She never acts without preparing an escape.”
Diego returned to the study.
He made three calls.
One to his lawyer.
One to the hospital.
One to the company’s board.
The third call lasted less than a minute.
When he ended it, his face had changed.
“What happened?” Marisol asked.
“My company accounts have been frozen.”
“Why?”
“An emergency complaint was filed this morning.”
“Someone accused me of transferring company money into private accounts.”
Marisol stared at him.
“Who filed the complaint?”
“My chief financial officer.”
Diego looked at his phone again.
“Arturo Mendoza.”
Marisol’s face turned pale.
Diego noticed.
“You know him?”
She took a step back.
“No.”
“Marisol.”
She looked down.
“I knew someone with that name many years ago.”
“Who was he?”
Marisol hesitated.
“My mother’s second husband.”
Diego stared at her.
“You told me your mother died when you were young.”
“She did.”
“Arturo disappeared after her funeral.”
“He took everything she owned.”
Diego’s phone vibrated.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph.
Marisol was standing outside a bank.
A large envelope was in her hands.
The date on the image was the morning after Diego’s father died.
May you like
Beneath it was a single sentence.
Ask the maid how much your father paid her to disappear.
