Chapter 1 - The Broken Witness
The heavy wooden door swung open with a slow, agonizing groan.
Standing in the doorway was Luciana, Valeria's younger sister whom Rebeca had claimed had run away with stolen jewelry six months ago.
Luciana was dressed in a stained gray utility jacket, her face gaunt and her knuckles bruised.
In her right hand, Luciana held a cracked digital voice recorder with a glowing red indicator light.
Sebastián stepped forward, his eyes widening in total shock.
"Luciana?" Sebastián breathed, his voice cracking beneath the suffocating weight of disbelief.
"You told me she stole fifty thousand dollars from our safe and fled to Europe, Mother."
Rebeca did not flinch, though her manicured hand tightened around the gold clasp of her handbag.
"The girl is a compulsive thief and a liar, Sebastián," Rebeca said smoothly, without a single tremor of fear.
"She returned because she ran out of money, and now she wants to extort us."
Luciana raised her chin, tears of pure defiance burning in her hollow eyes.
"I didn't steal a single peso from your house, Mr. Alcázar," Luciana said, her voice shaking with righteous fury.
"Your mother locked me in the servant quarters of the country estate for five weeks because I took photos of what she did to Valeria."
Valeria let out a ragged sob from the hospital bed, clutching her swollen belly as a fresh contraction tore through her.
Sebastián looked at his sister-in-law, then down at the cracked recorder in her hand.
"Play it," Sebastián commanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous, icy tone.
Luciana pressed the plastic button on the side of the device with her trembling thumb.
The speaker hissed with white static before a loud, sickening crack echoed through the private hospital room.
Then came Valeria’s muffled scream of absolute agony, followed by the sound of a body hitting a concrete floor.
Through the static, Rebeca’s elegant, aristocratic voice cut like a razor blade: "If you tell Sebastián one word about the offshore trusts, I will make sure this child is born dead."
Sebastián turned his head toward his mother, his entire body shaking with violent rage.
Before Sebastián could take a step toward Rebeca, four armed private security guards stepped out from the hallway shadows.
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Octavio Alcázar smiled thinly as he raised his smartphone toward the doorway.
"You should have stayed quiet, little cousin," Octavio whispered, signaling the guards to raise their weapons directly at Sebastián's chest.
