PART 2 — THE SECRET INSIDE THE VIRGIN
That afternoon, while security teams searched the city, Mariana entered the family chapel alone.
The mansion remained distracted by Diego's disappearance.
No one noticed her slip inside.
The golden Virgin stood above the altar.
Beautiful.
Expensive.
Untouched.
At least, that's how it appeared.
Mariana approached slowly.
Then she remembered Diego's words.
Look inside the Virgin.
Carefully, she examined the statue.
Nothing unusual.
Until she noticed a tiny keyhole hidden beneath the base.
Her pulse quickened.
She searched the surrounding shelves.
Candles.
Prayer books.
Rosaries.
Then she found a small brass key taped beneath a wooden ledge.
Someone had hidden it there intentionally.
Someone small enough to reach it unnoticed.
Someone like Diego.
The lock clicked.
The compartment opened.
And Mariana's world changed.
Inside was a flash drive.
A stack of documents.
And an old digital recorder.
Her hands shook as she pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then voices emerged.
Regina's voice.
Angry.
Cruel.
Unmistakable.
"You embarrass this family."
Another voice answered.
A woman.
Terrified.
Crying.
Lucía.
Diego's mother.
Mariana listened in horror.
The recording had been made three years earlier.
The night before Lucía supposedly died in a car accident.
The argument escalated.
Lucía threatened to leave.
To take Diego.
To expose years of abuse.
Then came Regina's chilling response.
"You'll never take him away."
The recording ended with screaming.
Then silence.
Mariana felt sick.
The documents were worse.
Financial reports.
Private investigator files.
Bribery payments.
Police records.
Evidence proving the accident had never been properly investigated.
Evidence suggesting it hadn't been an accident at all.
Someone entered the chapel.
Mariana spun around.
Alejandro stood in the doorway.
He looked at the open compartment.
The documents.
The recorder.
And instantly understood.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Alejandro whispered:
"My God."
Tears filled his eyes.
Because he recognized the recording.
Recognized his wife's voice.
Recognized his mother's.
And finally understood something he had spent three years refusing to consider.
His mother had lied.
Maybe about everything.
But before either could speak again, Alejandro's phone rang.
A security guard.
Panic filled the man's voice.
"Sir..."
"What is it?"
"We found Diego."
Alejandro's face drained of color.
"Where?"
May you like
The answer froze both of them.
"At the old construction site where Mrs. Lucía died."
