Chapter 11 - THE HOUSE IN THE HILLS
Paola gave police an address outside San Miguel de Allende.
A secluded property owned through a shell company.
Detective Sofía organized the operation.
Alejandro wanted to go.
She refused.
“This is not your job.”
“She targeted my family.”
“Which is exactly why you stay away.”
Alejandro hated it.
But Lucía needed him more than his anger did.
He stayed home.
At 6:17 a.m., police entered the property.
Renata wasn’t there.
The house was empty.
But what they found inside changed the investigation.
One room was covered in photographs.
Alejandro leaving work.
Alejandro eating at restaurants.
Alejandro with Mariana.
Alejandro carrying baby Lucía.
Alejandro at Mariana’s funeral.
Alejandro alone months later.
Then newer photographs.
Alejandro meeting Renata for the first time.
Except now he knew it wasn’t their first meeting.
Only the first time he had noticed her.
Renata had engineered it.
She had arranged to attend the same fundraiser.
She had researched his friends.
She had made sure they were introduced.
Every coincidence in their relationship had been manufactured.
Their first restaurant.
Their first vacation.
Even the architect whose recommendation had led Alejandro to one of his biggest contracts.
Connected to Guillermo.
Alejandro stared at the photographs when Sofía showed them to him.
“How did I not see this?”
“Because normal people don’t expect someone to construct an entire relationship around them.”
Alejandro looked away.
“But Lucía saw something.”
“Children often notice emotional inconsistencies adults rationalize.”
That sentence stayed with him.
Lucía had disliked Renata months before Alejandro noticed any problem.
She had become quieter.
More anxious.
She stopped asking Renata for help.
Alejandro had interpreted it as adjustment.
Renata had called it jealousy.
Neither explanation had respected Lucía enough to simply ask what was wrong.
Alejandro hated himself for that.
The police found something else inside the house.
A storage box labeled M.
Inside were items belonging to Mariana.
Her scarf.
A missing earring.
Old photographs.
A copy of her death certificate.
And a piece of metal.
Forensic investigators identified it as part of a brake line.
Alejandro stared at Sofía.
“Is that from Mariana’s car?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Why would Renata have it?”
Sofía didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
That afternoon, DNA results returned from the red car.
The hair in Renata’s damaged mirror belonged to Mariana.
The case shifted.
Renata was no longer simply wanted for crimes against Lucía.
She became the primary suspect in Mariana’s death.
The news spread quickly.
Guillermo disappeared.
Teresa hired attorneys.
Renata remained missing.
Then Alejandro received a video call.
He answered.
Renata appeared.
She looked exhausted.
No makeup.
No perfect hair.
No wedding-day elegance.
Just rage.
“You turned me into a monster.”
Alejandro stared at her.
“You did that yourself.”
“You have no idea what Mariana did.”
“She married me.”
“She betrayed me.”
“She was afraid of you.”
“She should have been.”
Alejandro’s face changed.
Renata realized what she had said.
Too late.
“What happened on that road?”
Renata smiled.
“Ask Mariana.”
“She’s dead.”
“I know.”
The smile remained.
Alejandro felt cold.
“Did you kill her?”
Renata leaned toward the camera.
“Would it change anything if I said yes?”
Alejandro recorded the call.
“Where are you?”
“You always ask the wrong question.”
“What should I ask?”
Renata’s smile disappeared.
“You should ask where Lucía’s real birth certificate is.”
Alejandro froze.
“What?”
Renata ended the call.
Alejandro immediately went to the family safe.
Lucía’s birth certificate was there.
He pulled it out.
At first, nothing seemed wrong.
Then Mateo noticed the seal.
“This is a copy.”
Alejandro stared.
The original was gone.
And when they requested a certified record the next morning, they discovered someone had filed a petition concerning Lucía’s guardianship three months earlier.
May you like
The petitioner was not Renata.
It was Guillermo Salazar.
