CHAPTER 9 — MY MOTHER’S UNFORGIVABLE SECRET
“Forgive me, my daughter.”
My mother's voice came through the speakers.
I couldn't breathe.
For fifteen years, I had imagined the day I would see her again.
I imagined running into her arms.
I imagined asking why she had left.
I imagined hearing her say that she had never stopped loving me.
I had never imagined this.
She was holding my son.
And she was crying.
Victoria stood behind her.
Smiling.
“You wanted the truth,” Victoria said. “Now you have it.”
I stepped toward the screen.
“Mom?”
My mother looked at me.
Her lips trembled.
“Emily…”
“Where is my son?”
She pulled him closer.
“He's safe.”
“Bring him to me.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
She closed her eyes.
“Because if I give him to you, they will kill him.”
I looked at Victoria.
“Who?”
Victoria answered.
“Everyone who wants the Castillo inheritance.”
My father stepped forward.
“Victoria, release her.”
Victoria laughed.
“You still think you can command me?”
My father raised his gun.
“You have nowhere to run.”
Victoria smiled.
“You're wrong.”
She lifted another device.
A timer appeared on the screen.
29:58
I stared.
“What is that?”
Victoria smiled.
“A decision.”
Daniel moved beside me.
“What decision?”
“You have thirty minutes.”
She pointed the camera toward my mother.
“Give me the black box…”
She paused.
“…or the baby dies.”
My blood turned to ice.
“No.”
Victoria continued.
“And if you give me the box, Emily's son lives.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“You're bluffing.”
Victoria laughed.
“You've known me your entire life.”
Then the screen changed.
A second camera appeared.
My son was lying in a crib.
Alive.
Breathing.
A machine beside him displayed his heartbeat.
I screamed.
“Don't touch him!”
Victoria looked at me through the screen.
“Then bring me the trust.”
My father gripped the black box.
“Don't.”
I turned toward him.
“What is inside?”
He didn't answer.
“Dad.”
He looked at me.
“The original Castillo covenant.”
“What does it contain?”
“The truth about your birth.”
I froze.
“My birth?”
He nodded.
“Your mother wasn't simply married to me.”
“What does that mean?”
“She was a Castillo.”
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
“My mother?”
“Her maiden name was Isabella Castillo.”
Alejandro's face changed.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
My father looked at him.
“She was your father's younger sister.”
Alejandro stepped backward.
“My aunt?”
“Yes.”
Daniel stared at his brother.
“That means…”
I understood.
My blood.
My son.
The Castillo inheritance.
The half-moon mark.
Everything suddenly connected.
I looked at my father.
“My mother married you knowing she was a Castillo.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hide it from me?”
“Because Victoria wanted you dead.”
I stared at the screen.
My mother began crying.
“Your father tried to protect you.”
I shook my head.
“He let me believe he was dead.”
“I know.”
“He let me believe you were dead.”
“I know.”
“And you let me believe my baby died.”
My mother's voice broke.
“I was trying to save him.”
“By giving him away?”
“No.”
She looked at the camera.
“I gave him to your father.”
I froze.
“What?”
My father nodded.
“The night you gave birth, your mother took the baby.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because Victoria had already sent someone to kill him.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Who?”
My father looked at him.
“Adrian.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“Why?”
“Because Adrian believed that if Daniel's son died, he would become the legitimate heir.”
I looked at the screen.
“Then why is Adrian working with Victoria?”
My father answered:
“Because Victoria promised him the empire.”
I shook my head.
“Then why didn't my mother bring my son back?”
My father hesitated.
“Because she discovered something.”
“What?”
He looked at me.
“The baby wasn't the only person Victoria wanted dead.”
I waited.
“Who else?”
“You.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because your bloodline makes you a legal heir.”
I looked at Alejandro.
He finally understood.
“If Emily is Isabella's daughter…”
“She has Castillo blood.”
Daniel's eyes widened.
“And her son inherits through both lines.”
My father nodded.
“Exactly.”
I looked at my son on the screen.
My baby wasn't merely the heir.
He was the strongest legal claimant the family had ever produced.
Victoria had spent months trying to erase him.
But she had missed one thing.
She couldn't erase me.
I stepped toward the screen.
“Victoria.”
“Yes?”
“You want the black box?”
“Yes.”
“Then I'll give it to you.”
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“Emily, no.”
I looked at him.
“I know what I'm doing.”
My father shook his head.
“You don't.”
I whispered:
“I've spent my whole life being lied to.”
I looked at Victoria.
“I'm done.”
Victoria smiled.
“Bring the box to the east pier.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“Then you'll release my son.”
“Agreed.”
The screen went black.
Daniel immediately grabbed my shoulders.
“You cannot go.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
“She has my baby.”
“She wants you.”
“Then she'll get me.”
Daniel shook his head.
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because it's the only way to get close enough.”
Alejandro stepped forward.
“I'll go with you.”
“No.”
“Emily—”
“I need you here.”
“Why?”
I looked at him.
“Because if I don't come back…”
He understood.
He nodded.
“We'll protect the baby.”
Daniel looked at me.
“You think you're going to sacrifice yourself?”
“No.”
I kissed his cheek.
“I'm going to bring our son home.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Promise.”
“I promise.”
My father approached.
He handed me the black box.
“Don't open it.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because once you open it…”
He paused.
“…the entire Castillo empire changes hands.”
I stared at the box.
“What does that mean?”
“You'll find out.”
I walked toward the pier.
The ocean was black beneath the moonlight.
The wind tore through my hair.
I carried the box in one hand.
And a small hidden recorder in the other.
I wasn't going alone.
Daniel had secretly followed me.
I knew he would.
I reached the end of the pier.
A boat approached.
Victoria stood at the front.
Two men guarded her.
And behind them...
my mother.
Holding my son.
I almost collapsed.
“Mom!”
She looked at me.
“I'm sorry.”
I raised the box.
“You wanted this.”
Victoria smiled.
“Give it to me.”
“Release him first.”
“No.”
“You promised.”
Victoria laughed.
“You really still believe promises mean something?”
I stepped forward.
“Let me hold my son.”
She shook her head.
“Not yet.”
My mother suddenly spoke.
“Victoria, enough.”
Victoria turned.
“You've done what I asked.”
“I protected Emily.”
“You protected yourself.”
My mother stepped forward.
“Give me the child.”
Victoria raised her gun.
“Stay back.”
My mother froze.
I stared at her.
“Mom…”
She looked at me.
“I lied to you.”
“I know.”
“I left you.”
“I know.”
“I hid your son.”
“I know.”
She began crying.
“But there is one thing I never lied about.”
“What?”
She looked directly at me.
“I love you.”
Then she threw herself toward Victoria.
The gun fired.
My mother fell.
“Mom!”
I screamed.
Daniel rushed from the shadows.
Gunfire erupted across the pier.
Victoria grabbed the baby.
I ran.
Adrian appeared from the boat.
He pointed his weapon at Daniel.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Daniel fired first.
Adrian fell behind a crate.
Alejandro and my father emerged from the darkness.
Victoria's men scattered.
I reached my mother.
Blood soaked her dress.
“Mom.”
She looked at me.
“Take him.”
I looked toward the baby.
Victoria was running toward the boat.
I stood.
“No.”
I chased her.
She reached the deck.
I grabbed her wrist.
She turned.
“You should have stayed a maid.”
I stared into her eyes.
“And you should have never touched my child.”
She raised the gun.
I caught her hand.
We struggled.
The black box fell.
It hit the deck.
It opened.
A red light flashed.
Victoria froze.
“No.”
I looked inside.
There was no money.
No jewels.
Only a small biometric device.
And a document.
My name appeared on it.
EMILY RIVERA-CASTILLO.
Below it:
PRIMARY BENEFICIARY.
Victoria whispered:
“No…”
I looked at her.
“You spent your entire life fighting for an empire…”
I picked up the document.
“…that already belonged to me.”
Her face collapsed.
Then my father shouted from the pier:
“Emily!”
I turned.
Daniel was holding the baby.
Alive.
Safe.
He was crying.
I ran toward them.
Daniel placed our son in my arms.
The moment I held him, he stopped crying.
I kissed his forehead.
“My baby.”
Daniel wrapped his arms around us.
For one brief moment, everything was perfect.
Then Alejandro looked at the document.
His face changed.
“Emily…”
“What?”
He pointed.
“There is another name.”
I looked down.
Beneath my name was a second beneficiary.
CLAIMANT TWO: ADRIAN CASTILLO.
I froze.
Adrian stepped out from behind the boat.
Blood covered his shirt.
But he was smiling.
He looked at me.
“You really thought this was over?”
He raised a second document.
“The trust recognizes two heirs.”
I tightened my hold on my son.
Adrian smiled.
“And I have something you don't.”
“What?”
He lifted his phone.
A photograph appeared.
My mother's face.
A newborn baby.
And beside them...
a second newborn.
My heart stopped.
Two babies.
Born the same night.
But one of them wasn't Alejandro's.
And one of them wasn't mine.
Adrian whispered:
May you like
“Your son has a twin.”
And the missing child Victoria had spent years hiding had finally been found.
