Chapter 4: The Witness Who Came Back From the Dead
For several seconds, nobody in the hospital room moved.
Not me.
Not Elena.
Not even Mauricio.
The only sound was the steady rhythm of the heart monitor beside my bed.
A reminder that life continued even when everything I believed about mine had just collapsed.
“Daniel Ferrer is alive?”” Elena finally whispered.
Mauricio looked at her.
His face was pale.
“Yes.””
She took a step back.
“That’s impossible.””
“I know.””
“No,” Elena said firmly.
“You don’t understand. His car was found. His apartment was empty.
His accounts were frozen. There was no trace of him.””
Mauricio rubbed his forehead.
“Apparently, there was a trace.””
I stared at him.
The anger inside me was fighting with something else.
Confusion.
Fear.
Because six hours ago, my biggest problem had been a divorce.
Now I was standing in the middle of a story that involved my mother’s death, missing documents, and a man everyone thought had vanished.
“What did you do?”” I asked.
Mauricio looked at me.
“What?””
“The night my mother died.””
His lips parted slightly.
Then closed again.
That hesitation was enough.
I felt my chest tighten.
“You know something.””
“Lucía—”
“No.””
My voice shook, but I didn’t stop.
“For years, I asked you what happened that night. You told me my mother lost control of the car. You told me she was tired. You told me there was nothing anyone could have done.””
“I told you what I knew.””
“Did you?””
The question hung between us.
Mauricio looked away.
And for the first time in ten years, I saw guilt.
Not sadness.
Not regret.
Guilt.
Elena stepped between us.
“Mr. Salgado, where is Daniel Ferrer?””
Mauricio swallowed.
“I don’t know.””
“Who contacted you?””
“I can’t say.””
Her eyes narrowed.
“You can’t say, or you won’t say?””
He didn’t answer.
I almost laughed.
The irony was painful.
The man who spent years calling me emotional was now standing in front of me, terrified of facts.
A nurse entered the room.
“Ms. Salgado, you need to rest.””
I looked at her.
“I’m fine.””
“You have been through a stressful event.””
I almost smiled.
Stressful event.
That was one way to describe my entire life changing in a single day.
Elena gently touched my shoulder.
“Lucía, you need to think carefully.””
I looked at her.
“About what?””
“About who you trust.””
My eyes moved toward Mauricio.
He noticed.
And for once, he didn’t argue.
Because he knew she was right.
Two hours later, I was discharged with strict instructions to rest.
Mauricio tried to follow me out.
I stopped walking.
“Don’t.””
He froze.
“I just want to make sure you’re okay.””
I turned around.
“Now?””
His expression changed.
“Lucía.””
“Now you care?””
“That’s not fair.””
I stared at him.
“Fair?””
The word almost sounded foreign.
“Your mistress attacked me outside a courthouse while I was carrying your child, and you laughed.””
His face tightened.
“I was wrong.””
The apology came too easily.
Too late.
I looked at him carefully.
“You’re not sorry because I was hurt.””
He said nothing.
“You’re sorry because everything is falling apart.””
His silence confirmed it.
I walked away.
Outside the hospital, Elena’s driver waited.
Before I entered the car, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
Again.
Elena noticed.
“Don’t answer.””
This time, I didn’t listen.
I pressed the button.
“Hello?””
For several seconds, there was only breathing.
Then an older man’s voice spoke.
“Lucía?””
My entire body went still.
I knew that voice.
Not because I had heard it recently.
Because I had heard it in my childhood.
“Daniel?””
A pause.
Then a quiet sigh.
“You sound like your mother.””
My eyes filled instantly.
“Where are you?””
“I don’t have much time.””
“Tell me where you are.””
“No.””
The answer was immediate.
“Why?””
“Because if they know where I am, you won’t get the truth.””
I looked at Elena.
She was watching my expression carefully.
“Who is ‘they’?””
Daniel was silent.
Then he said:
“Your husband.””
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“Did Mauricio hurt my mother?””
Another pause.
Longer this time.
“Lucía…”
My heart pounded.
“Answer me.””
“I saw him that night.””
The world seemed to stop.
“What did you see?””
“I saw him arguing with your mother.””
My breath caught.
“About what?””
“About the company.””
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
The company.
Everything came back to money.
Power.
Control.
“What happened after?””
Daniel’s voice became quieter.
“Your mother discovered something.””
“What?””
“She found evidence that Mauricio had been moving company funds.””
My stomach dropped.
“I knew there were irregularities.””
“No.””
His voice sharpened.
“You don’t understand.””
“What don’t I understand?””
“He wasn’t stealing money.””
I frowned.
“Then what was he doing?””
“He was hiding ownership.””
I looked at Elena.
She had heard enough from my expression.
“What does that mean?”” I asked.
Daniel took a breath.
“It means Mauricio wasn’t trying to take the company from your mother.””
A cold feeling spread through me.
“He was trying to take it from you.””
I couldn’t speak.
The car felt suddenly too small.
“Why?””
“Because your mother had already transferred control.””
“To me?””
“Yes.””
My hand moved instinctively to my stomach.
Everything Mauricio said over the past few months suddenly sounded different.
You can’t handle this.
You need me.
The company is too much for you.
He wasn’t trying to convince me.
He was trying to convince himself.
Daniel continued.
“Your mother knew Mauricio would eventually come after the trust.””
“How?””
“Because she confronted him.””
“When?””
“The night she died.””
My heart stopped.
“What happened that night?””
The line became silent.
Then Daniel whispered:
“Your mother was alive when she left the house.””
I stopped breathing.
“What?””
“She wasn’t driving away from a meeting.””
My voice shook.
“Then where was she going?””
“To meet me.””
I looked out the window.
Rain began falling again.
The same kind of rain as the morning everything changed.
“Daniel, tell me the truth.””
“I’m trying to.””
“No. Tell me everything.””
His voice lowered.
“Your mother found proof that Mauricio had created a second company.””
“A second company?””
“Yes.””
“What kind?””
“A company designed to absorb Salgado Construction’s assets.””
I felt sick.
“And she knew?””
“She knew everything.””
The silence after that was unbearable.
Then Daniel said:
“Lucía, there is something else.””
“What?””
“I didn’t disappear because I wanted to.””
My grip tightened.
“Then why?””
“Because someone tried to kill me.””
Elena’s face changed.
She had heard that.
“Who?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
Instead, he asked:
“Are you alone?””
I looked around.
The driver was in front.
Elena was beside me.
“No.””
His breathing became tense.
“Then you need to leave.””
“What?””
“Right now.””
“Why?””
A sound came through the phone.
A door opening.
Daniel’s voice suddenly became urgent.
“Lucía, listen carefully.””
“What?””
“Your mother didn’t leave you the fortune because she trusted you.””
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“She left it because she knew you would be the only person strong enough to expose them.””
My heart raced.
“Who is them?””
But Daniel didn’t answer.
Instead, I heard another voice in the background.
A man.
Close.
Too close.
Daniel whispered one final sentence.
“Lucía, Mauricio isn’t the only person who betrayed you.””
The call went silent.
I stared at the phone.
Then Elena’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed immediately.
“What?””
A pause.
Then she looked at me.
“Lucía…”
“What happened?””
She slowly lowered her phone.
“The courthouse security cameras were reviewed.””
My stomach tightened.
“And?””
Her expression was grim.
“They found something from the morning you were attacked.””
“What?””
She looked at Mauricio’s direction through the hospital entrance.
“The person who pushed Paola to confront you wasn’t Paola.””
I felt a chill.
“Then who was it?””
Elena’s voice dropped.
“The footage shows Mauricio was the one who sent her the message telling her exactly where to stand.””
I couldn’t move.
Because suddenly, the woman who kicked me was no longer the biggest threat.
May you like
She was just a weapon.
And the person holding the weapon had been standing beside me all along.
