“Do you have relatives with similar last names?” Santiago asked.
“No. My family was small. My mother died young, my father abandoned us. I only had my older sister, Carmen. But she died five years ago in an accident on the coast. Or at least that’s what my father told me before he disappeared. I never saw the body, just received her ashes.”
Santiago stood up, his eyes shining with sudden realization.
“Valentina, think about it. Ricardo is a con artist. Your father lied to you before. What if Carmen didn’t die? What if ‘Moralis’ is a typo for ‘Morales’ or an alias?”
It sounded insane, but in the context of her life, insanity was the only logic left. The next day, Santiago moved heaven and earth, using private contacts to track hospital records on the coast. And there, in a small hospital in Cartagena, they found it: Carmen Moralis had given birth to twin girls three weeks earlier.
“She’s alive,” Valentina sobbed, covering her mouth. “My sister is alive—and these are my nieces.”
They wasted no time. At dawn, they traveled to Cartagena. The walled city welcomed them with its humid, vibrant heat. Santiago managed to locate the address listed on a recent employment record—Carmen was working as a nurse under that false surname.
“Carmen!”
At the sight of Valentina and the babies, Carmen nearly fainted. Tears, hugs, and confusion blended together on the sidewalk.
In the safety of a small hotel room, Carmen revealed the truth. She had fled from Aurelio Vega, a powerful, obsessive man who abused her. Faking her death was the only way to escape. But Aurelio found her years later. When she became pregnant with the twins, she knew he would take them from her. She tried to give them up for legal adoption—to save them, to send them far away where he couldn’t reach them.
“But the adoption agency…” Santiago said, connecting the dots. “Ricardo worked for the agency. He intercepted the babies. He was going to sell them, but something went wrong with the deal, so he used them to escape, leaving them with Valentina as a distraction.”
“Aurelio knows I’m alive,” Carmen said, trembling. “He’s been calling me. He says he’s coming for me and for the girls.”
As if summoning the devil were enough to make him appear, a rock shattered the hotel window, landing on the bed with a note tied to it: “The game is over. Come out or we come in.”
Santiago looked out the window. Below, two black SUVs blocked the exit.
“There’s no back way out,” Santiago said coolly. “Carmen, listen to me. I have a plan, but it’s risky. I need you to trust me.”
