Chapter 2 - The Father I Was Never Allowed to KnowNobody moved.
Lucía stood beside the table.
The DNA report remained in Rafael's hand.
Adrián looked as though someone had taken the ground from beneath him.
“You're saying…”
He struggled to speak.
“She is my sister?”
Rafael nodded.
“Half-sister.”
Adrián looked at Lucía.
All the memories of the previous six months came rushing back.
Every dinner.
Every conversation.
Every time he had held her hand.
Every time he had complained that she didn't belong in his world.
Every insult.
Every cruel joke.
Every moment he had made her feel ashamed of herself.
His face turned white.
Lucía couldn't look at him.
She felt sick.
Not because she had ever loved him.
But because she now understood why her mother had always been terrified of Adrián's family.
Her mother had known.
She had known the truth.
And she had spent twenty-five years protecting Lucía from it.
Rafael folded the DNA report.
“You should leave.”
Adrián didn't move.
“I didn't know.”
Lucía finally looked at him.
“You never asked.”
The sentence destroyed him.
He lowered his head.
“I thought you were…”
“Poor?”
He said nothing.
“Unimportant?”
Nothing.
“Not good enough?”
Adrián's eyes filled with tears.
“I was wrong.”
“You were cruel.”
“Yes.”
“You humiliated me.”
“I know.”
“You told your friends I was desperate to marry into your family.”
Adrián closed his eyes.
“I was ashamed of what I felt.”
Lucía stared at him.
“What you felt wasn't love.”
Rafael stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Adrián looked at him.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you didn't deserve the truth until tonight.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
Rafael turned toward the guests.
“Everyone needs to leave.”
Nobody argued.
Within minutes, the garden began emptying.
The musicians packed away their instruments.
The servers disappeared.
Family members whispered as they walked toward the house.
Soon only Lucía, Rafael, Adrián, and two assistants remained.
Rafael opened the second envelope.
“This concerns your father.”
Adrián looked up.
“My father died ten years ago.”
“Yes.”
“From a heart attack.”
“That is what the family announced.”
Adrián stared.
“What are you saying?”
Rafael handed him a photograph.
It showed Adrián's father standing outside a warehouse.
Beside him was Lucía's mother.
And beside her was another man.
Adrián recognized him.
His uncle.
“That's impossible.”
Rafael pointed toward the date.
“Twenty-three years ago.”
Adrián stared.
“What happened there?”
“Your father discovered that your uncle was stealing money from the family business.”
Adrián frowned.
“That can't be true.”
“It is.”
Rafael continued.
“Your father confronted him.”
“And?”
“He was threatened.”
“By my uncle?”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
“Your father asked me for help.”
Adrián looked stunned.
“You?”
Rafael nodded.
“He knew I was the only person your uncle couldn't control.”
“And my mother?”
“She was involved because she knew the financial records.”
Adrián's face changed.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“She knew?”
“She knew everything.”
Lucía looked at Rafael.
“Why did my mother leave?”
Rafael looked at her.
“Because she became pregnant.”
“With me.”
“Yes.”
“And Adrián's father was…”
“Your biological father.”
Lucía's hands shook.
“Then why did he want to hurt her?”
Rafael took a long breath.
“Because he didn't want anyone to know you existed.”
“Why?”
“Your father was already married.”
Adrián looked away.
Rafael continued.
“Your mother threatened to expose him.”
“So he tried to silence her.”
“Yes.”
“And you protected us.”
“I tried.”
Lucía wiped her eyes.
“What happened?”
“Your mother fled.”
“Where?”
“Here.”
Rafael pointed toward the estate.
“She came to me.”
“And you raised me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you adopt me?”
“Because your biological father had powerful lawyers.”
Adrián looked confused.
“Then how did she keep custody?”
Rafael's expression hardened.
“She didn't.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Your mother lost custody temporarily.”
Lucía stared.
“Then where was I?”
Rafael looked at her.
“With your father.”
Lucía's face went pale.
“For how long?”
“Eight months.”
She covered her mouth.
“What happened?”
Rafael didn't answer.
Adrián whispered:
“My father abused her.”
Rafael nodded.
“And that's why your mother disappeared.”
Lucía looked at the box.
There was one final photograph.
A little girl.
Standing beside a woman.
And behind them was Rafael.
On the back was written:
The day we finally escaped.
Lucía began crying.
Rafael put his hand on her shoulder.
“You were four years old.”
“You remember?”
“Yes.”
“What did I call you?”
Rafael smiled sadly.
“Dad.”
Lucía broke down.
For twenty-one years, she had believed the word had belonged to someone else.
Now she understood.
The man she had called Dad had been protecting her all along.
But there was still one question.
“What happened to my biological father?”
Rafael looked toward the dark garden.
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“Two days after your mother escaped.”
“Did he die?”
Rafael hesitated.
“No.”
Lucía stared at him.
“He's alive?”
May you like
Rafael nodded.
“And tonight, he knows you're here.”
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