Chapter 3 - The Ventilation
Rafael shut down the nursery vents.
Mateo’s crying eased within minutes.
Sofía wrapped him in clean cotton and carried him into Nicolás’s office.
No scented furniture.
No curtains.
No decorative blankets.
The baby settled.
Nicolás watched every breath.
Then he turned toward Rafael.
“Who controls the ventilation?”
“Estate engineering.”
“How many people?”
“Six.”
“Bring all of them.”
One was missing.
Carlos Méndez.
Night maintenance supervisor.
His locker was empty.
Phone disconnected.
Car still in the garage.
Rafael searched the cameras.
Carlos entered the service corridor twenty minutes earlier.
Never came out.
Nicolás looked at the mansion floor plan.
“There are old passages.”
Don Esteban nodded.
“Built when your grandfather expanded the house.”
Sofía looked at him.
“Do they connect to the nursery wall?”
“Yes.”
They searched.
Found Carlos unconscious behind the wine cellar.
Alive.
Sedated.
Someone had used his access card.
So Carlos was not the person.
He was another piece.
Then Rafael checked door logs.
Carlos’s card opened the mechanical room.
Time:
Six minutes before Mateo reacted.
Camera footage at the mechanical room had been erased.
One camera remained.
A hallway camera two floors away.
It captured a woman in a white medical coat leaving the service stairs.
Face hidden.
Valeria whispered:
“A doctor?”
Sofía zoomed in.
The woman carried the same type of medical bag used by pediatric specialists.
Nicolás’s jaw tightened.
“All fifteen doctors came through this house.”
Sofía shook her head.
“Not all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some examined Mateo at hospitals.”
She scanned the reports.
One doctor had visited the mansion repeatedly.
Dr. Adriana Ferrer.
Pediatric allergist.
Private practice.
Recommended the imported antimicrobial fabrics because “sterile surroundings may reduce irritation.”
Sofía stared.
“She prescribed the thing making him worse.”
Nicolás pulled out his phone.
“Bring her here.”
Sofía stopped him.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“If she knows we found the room, she’ll destroy whatever connects her.”
Rafael nodded.
“She’s right.”
Nicolás hated that.
Then Valeria asked:
“Why would a doctor hurt a baby?”
No one answered.
The trust folder on the USB finally unlocked.
Password:
MAT3O.
Inside was a copy of the Velasco family succession agreement.
If Mateo became medically incapacitated for more than ninety days, temporary control of his trust shifted away from Nicolás.
To whom?
A three-person council.
Nicolás.
Leonor.
And Gabriel Serrano.
Valeria’s father.
Valeria went pale.
“My father?”
Nicolás looked at her.
Their arranged engagement had joined two powerful families.
The marriage never happened.
But Mateo tied them forever.
The trust was built to keep both bloodlines represented.
If Nicolás were deemed unable to act due to conflict or criminal exposure, the remaining two council members could control Mateo’s shares.
Leonor.
Gabriel.
Sofía looked between them.
“Who benefits from keeping Mateo sick?”
Nobody spoke.
Then Nicolás’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice said:
“You found the tracker.”
Nicolás stood.
“Who are you?”
The voice laughed.
“That was never the trap.”
Then:
“Look under your son’s trust signature page.”
The call ended.
Rafael opened the physical trust file from Nicolás’s safe.
Beneath Mateo’s signature page was a second sheet.
A transfer authorization.
May you like
Already signed by Leonor.
And Gabriel Serrano.
