CHAPTER 7 – ALEJANDRO'S CONFESSION
Alejandro Cruz looked smaller in an interrogation room.
Men often do.
Without expensive jackets, dark cars, and other people's fear, he was simply a tired forty-one-year-old man with bad decisions written across his face.
I watched through one-way glass.
Inspector Ortega questioned him.
“When did you meet Beatriz Navarro?”
“Fifteen years ago.”
My stomach tightened.
Fifteen.
Long before she met me.
“Relationship?”
Alejandro looked down.
“We were together.”
“For how long?”
“Years.”
“Why did it end?”
“It didn't.”
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
My marriage had been a lie from the beginning.
Alejandro continued.
“She met Daniel at a charity event.”
“She realized what he was worth.”
“What did you do?”
“I told her to forget it.”
“Did she?”
Alejandro laughed weakly.
“No.”
“She said marrying him could change everything.”
“So you agreed?”
“Eventually.”
“Why?”
“Because I was stupid.”
“No.”
Ortega leaned forward.
“You were greedy.”
Alejandro said nothing.
“What happened after the marriage?”
“She transferred money.”
“Stolen money.”
“Yes.”
“And the plan?”
Alejandro rubbed his face.
“The original plan was divorce.”
“Then why the forged documents?”
“Beatriz changed.”
“When?”
“After Daniel rewrote his will.”
I remembered.
Two years earlier, I had updated my estate plan.
Most of my personal fortune would go to Isabella.
Beatriz would receive substantial assets.
More than enough to live luxuriously forever.
Apparently, enough wasn't enough.
“She became obsessed with controlling everything,” Alejandro said.
“What about Isabella?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“That wasn't my idea.”
My hands curled into fists.
“What did Beatriz want?”
“She wanted the girl discredited.”
“How?”
“Make her look unstable.”
“Why?”
“So if Daniel died or became incapacitated, Beatriz could argue she wasn't capable of controlling her inheritance.”
My vision narrowed.
Ortega remained calm.
“Did Beatriz intend to kill Daniel?”
Alejandro hesitated.
“Answer.”
“I don't know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I swear.”
“Did you provide the sedatives?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She said she needed him confused.”
“For signatures?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
Alejandro stared at the table.
Then whispered.
“She asked me about dosages.”
“What kind of dosages?”
“Fatal ones.”
My stomach turned.
Ortega paused.
“What did you tell her?”
“That I wasn't doing murder.”
“And?”
“She laughed.”
“What did she say?”
Alejandro slowly looked up.
“She said everyone has a price.”
I left the observation room.
I couldn't listen anymore.
Elena followed.
“Daniel.”
“I married her.”
“You couldn't have known.”
“I brought her into Isabella's life.”
“That part matters.”
I turned.
“What?”
“You brought her in.”
She held my gaze.
“But now you're getting her out.”
That evening, Isabella and I stayed in a secured apartment owned by the company.
She couldn't sleep.
Neither could I.
At midnight, she appeared at my bedroom door.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Can I sleep here?”
“Always.”
She climbed into the bed.
For several minutes, she said nothing.
Then she whispered.
“Is Beatriz coming back?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“I'll make sure.”
Another silence.
“Did she hate me?”
The question hurt more than anything else.
I turned toward her.
“No.”
“But she hurt me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Because she was cruel.
Because she was greedy.
Because she wanted money.
None of those answers felt appropriate for an eight-year-old.
“Sometimes people want something so badly that they stop caring who they hurt.”
Isabella thought about that.
“That's stupid.”
I almost smiled.
“Yes.”
“It is.”
She moved closer.
Then she said something that surprised me.
“Mr. Mateo said you would come.”
My throat tightened.
“He did?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When I was crying.”
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘Your daddy always comes back.’”
I kissed her forehead.
“I wish I'd come sooner.”
She closed her eyes.
“Me too.”
Twenty minutes later, she was asleep.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I answered silently.
For several seconds, nothing.
Then Beatriz spoke.
“Daniel.”
My entire body went rigid.
“Where are you?”
She laughed softly.
“You always ask the wrong question.”
“What is the right question?”
“Where am I?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Her voice became colder.
“The right question is what did I leave behind?”
May you like
The line went dead.
Three seconds later, the building's fire alarm began screaming.
