Chapter 4 - The Brother Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Sebastián had not heard Gabriel Alcázar’s name spoken inside his family for almost six years.
His older brother had died at thirty-one.
At least that was what Sebastián had been told.
A highway accident outside Saltillo.
A burned vehicle.
A closed coffin.
A funeral attended by nearly every important family in Monterrey.
Sebastián himself had carried one side of the coffin.
Now Camila was telling him Gabriel had walked into Valeria’s hospital room.
Alive.
“That’s impossible.”
Camila pushed herself upright.
“I saw him.”
“You never met Gabriel.”
“I saw photographs.”
Sebastián shook his head.
“My brother is dead.”
Camila stared at him.
“Then your dead brother just kidnapped your wife.”
Sebastián wanted to reject it.
But something inside him wouldn’t let him.
Because suddenly he remembered something.
The funeral.
His mother refusing to let anyone open the coffin.
The explanation had been simple.
The burns were too severe.
His father had insisted Sebastián remember Gabriel as he had been.
At the time, it sounded compassionate.
Now it sounded convenient.
Sebastián called the family cemetery.
Then the funeral home.
Then an old friend in the civil registry.
The death certificate existed.
The burial permit existed.
Everything existed.
Except one thing.
The DNA identification report.
There wasn’t one.
Dental records had supposedly been used.
Sebastián called the dentist listed on the paperwork.
The number had been disconnected.
He searched the doctor’s name.
No record.
No license.
Nothing.
His hands began shaking.
Camila watched him.
“They made you believe your wife was crazy.”
Her voice was quiet.
“Why wouldn’t they make you believe your brother was dead?”
Sebastián looked at her.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No voice.
Only breathing.
“Gabriel?”
The breathing stopped.
Sebastián closed his eyes.
“If that’s you, listen to me.”
Silence.
“If you hurt Valeria—”
A man laughed softly.
Sebastián froze.
He knew that laugh.
Six years disappeared.
He was twenty-seven again.
Standing beside Gabriel on the terrace.
Arguing about their father.
Hearing that exact quiet laugh whenever Gabriel thought Sebastián was being naive.
“Little brother.”
Sebastián couldn’t breathe.
“Gabriel.”
“You always were slow.”
Sebastián gripped the phone.
“Where is my wife?”
“Safe.”
“My daughter?”
“Safer than she would be with you.”
Rage surged through Sebastián.
“Where are they?”
Gabriel laughed again.
“You still think this is about kidnapping.”
“What is it about?”
“Ownership.”
Sebastián went silent.
Gabriel continued.
“You should ask Father why he needed a granddaughter before midnight.”
The call ended.
Sebastián stared at the phone.
Before midnight.
Why would timing matter?
Camila looked at him.
“What did he say?”
Sebastián repeated the sentence.
Camila’s face changed.
“What?”
“You know something.”
“No.”
“You do.”
Camila shook her head.
Then she remembered.
“The trust.”
Sebastián stared at her.
“What trust?”
Camila looked horrified.
“Valeria found something three years ago.”
“What?”
“Documents.”
“What documents?”
“She never told me everything.”
“Camila.”
“She said your grandfather left a trust.”
Sebastián felt cold.
His grandfather, Don Ernesto Alcázar, had founded the company.
When he died, control passed to Alejandro.
At least temporarily.
Camila continued.
“Valeria said ownership changed when the next child in the direct bloodline was born.”
Sebastián stared at her.
“My daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And midnight?”
“I don’t know.”
Sebastián did.
His grandfather’s estate had been notorious for strange clauses.
He needed the original trust documents.
Those documents were kept at Alcázar House.
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And suddenly Sebastián knew exactly where his father might have taken the baby.
Home.
