Then you say the words that change your life forever.
“I already lost the only thing I couldn’t replace,” you tell him. “Now I have nothing you can threaten.”
Camila’s eyes fill with tears.
Rivas exhales slowly, as if savoring your defiance.
“You think you’re brave,” he murmurs. “But bravery doesn’t protect little girls.”
Then he says, “Bring Camila to the old children’s wing at San Aurelio Hospital. Alone. Midnight.”
Camila stiffens.
“No,” you start.
Rivas interrupts, voice turning sharp.
“Or the triplets disappear into three different countries by sunrise,” he says.
The line clicks off.
Mauro looks pleased again.
He steps toward Camila.
“I’ll escort her,” he says, and the word escort sounds like a cage.
You step between them.
“No,” you say. “I will.”
Mauro laughs.
“You think you’re in control,” he says.
Then he leans in and whispers, “Rivas is going to make you watch.”
You don’t sleep.
You move like a man possessed by purpose.
You call Valdez and tell him everything, not as a request, but as instructions.
Valdez’s voice is grim. “We can’t storm a hospital on a hunch.”
You answer, “Then don’t storm it. Listen.”
The plan becomes a trap inside a trap.
Camila will go, but not alone.
You will be there.
Valdez’s agents will be hidden, silent, watching.
And your mother, who knows the old ghosts, will call in favors you didn’t know she had.
At 11:47 p.m., you drive to San Aurelio Hospital, the one you shut down years ago after Sofia’s death because you couldn’t stand the smell of antiseptic and failure.
The building stands hollow against the night, windows dark like blind eyes.
Camila sits beside you, pale, jaw clenched.
“If we don’t come back,” she whispers, “promise me you’ll find them.”
The sentence breaks you.
You grip the steering wheel until your hands ache.
“I’m bringing them home,” you say. “All of you.”
Camila stares at you like she wants to believe you but doesn’t trust miracles.
Inside, the old children’s wing smells like dust and forgotten prayers.
Your footsteps echo.
Camila’s breath sounds too loud.
You reach the hallway where Sofia once slept and you feel your chest tighten so hard you almost can’t move.
Then the lights flicker on.
Rivas stands at the end of the corridor like he’s been waiting his whole life for this moment.
He’s older, immaculate, wearing a coat that looks like it belongs to a doctor, but his eyes are the eyes of a man who enjoys controlling outcomes.
Mauro is beside him, smiling.
And behind them, through a glass door, you see three small figures sitting on a hospital bed.
The triplets.
They look scared, but alive.
Camila makes a broken sound and starts forward.
Rivas lifts a hand.
“Stop,” he says calmly. “One more step and they leave through the back.”
You freeze.
Your whole body screams, but you freeze.
Rivas steps closer.
“You ruined a beautiful system,” he says. “Do you know how many people depend on our… efficiencies?”
He smiles faintly. “Poor girls are currency. Desperate parents are discounts. You should understand business.”
You feel your stomach twist.
Camila’s voice comes out raw. “You’re evil.”
Rivas shrugs like evil is an opinion.
Mauro leans in and murmurs, “Tell him you’ll sign the girls over.”
Camila shakes her head violently.
You lift your chin.
“No,” you say.
Rivas’s eyes sharpen.
“Then we do this the other way,” he says, and he nods to Mauro.
Mauro pulls out a syringe.
Camila’s scream rises, but before it can fully form, the world explodes.
Valdez’s agents surge from the shadows.
Flashlights.
Gun shouts.
Hands grab Mauro’s wrist.
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