Chapter 16 - THE SECOND PERSON
Mariana had written a name.
Teresa Salazar.
Renata’s mother.
Alejandro read the paragraph slowly.
Renata came to the house with Teresa.
Teresa told me I should leave you voluntarily.
She said Renata had wanted you first and that I had humiliated their family.
I thought she was trying to calm Renata.
I was wrong.
She is encouraging her.
Alejandro looked at Elena.
“Teresa knew everything.”
Elena nodded.
Police were informed immediately.
Teresa had disappeared.
Guillermo’s confession had minimized her involvement.
Now investigators understood why.
He wasn’t only protecting his daughter.
He was protecting his wife.
Renata was interrogated.
For hours, she refused to speak.
Then detectives showed her Mariana’s letter.
Her expression changed.
She asked for an attorney.
That told them enough.
The search for Teresa intensified.
Alejandro returned home.
Lucía was waiting.
She ran toward him.
“Did they catch her?”
“Yes.”
“Renata?”
“Yes.”
Lucía stopped.
“She can’t come here?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
Alejandro crouched.
“I promise.”
Lucía hugged him.
That night was the first time in weeks she slept without waking.
Alejandro didn’t.
He sat beside her bed until sunrise.
He watched her breathe.
Mariana’s words repeated in his mind.
Lucía.
Always Lucía.
The next morning, the district attorney announced charges against Renata.
Kidnapping.
Forgery.
Fraud.
Child endangerment.
Financial crimes.
And homicide charges connected to Mariana’s death.
Guillermo faced kidnapping, fraud, obstruction, conspiracy, and evidence tampering charges.
Teresa remained wanted.
The Salazar business empire began collapsing.
Banks froze accounts.
Investors fled.
Partners turned over records.
People who had spent years smiling beside Guillermo suddenly remembered conversations.
Payments.
Threats.
Favors.
Alejandro’s company suffered too.
But something unexpected happened.
Clients began returning.
Not because of scandal.
Because Alejandro had walked away from millions rather than sacrifice his daughter.
One investor told him directly.
“I want to work with the man who stopped his own wedding for his child.”
Alejandro didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“I didn’t do it for publicity.”
“I know.”
That was precisely why it mattered.
Weeks passed.
Lucía returned to school.
She began seeing a child therapist.
Alejandro attended several sessions with her.
One afternoon, the therapist asked Lucía what she wanted most.
Lucía thought for a long time.
Then she said:
“I want Daddy to stop looking scared when I leave the room.”
Alejandro’s chest tightened.
He hadn’t realized she noticed.
That evening, he sat with her on the porch.
“I’m working on it.”
Lucía smiled.
“I know.”
She rested her head against his arm.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Can we still have parties?”
Alejandro laughed.
“Yes.”
“No weddings.”
He laughed harder.
“Deal.”
Then his phone rang.
Detective Sofía.
“We found Teresa.”
Alejandro stood.
“Where?”
“At the airport.”
“Trying to leave?”
“Yes.”
“Where was she going?”
“Spain.”
Alejandro thought of Mariana’s father.
His blood ran cold.
“Why Spain?”
Sofía paused.
“We found something in her luggage.”
“What?”
“A photograph of Mariana’s father.”
May you like
Alejandro stared into the darkness.
“And his home address.”
