Chapter 11 - My Uncle Wanted the One Thing Money Could Never BuyRafael disappeared for three months.
We searched everywhere.
Then a message arrived.
I don't want your company.
I want Lucía.
I refused.
He sent another.
You still don't understand what she is.
I did.
She was a child.
She was not a biological weapon.
Not a research subject.
Not a billionaire asset.
Not property.
I contacted the authorities.
But Rafael had disappeared internationally.
My father was still recovering.
He told me something.
“Rafael thinks he can control Lumen.”
“Can he?”
“No.”
“Then why is he dangerous?”
“Because he believes he deserves it.”
We followed his financial trail.
Brazil.
Portugal.
Morocco.
France.
Finally, Barcelona.
He had returned to where everything began.
An abandoned research center under the old port.
We found him.
He was waiting.
Lucía was not there.
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“You'll see.”
Rafael smiled.
“You look better.”
“I walk.”
“For now.”
He placed a tablet on the table.
A video appeared.
Lucía sat in a room.
She wasn't tied.
She wasn't hurt.
But she was frightened.
“Let her go.”
“I will.”
“What do you want?”
“A choice.”
“What choice?”
“You inherit the Romero trust.”
“I don't care.”
“You should.”
“What do you mean?”
Rafael leaned forward.
“You think your father wanted the research to help people.”
“He did.”
“No.”
“What?”
“He knew it could make him the richest man alive.”
I shook my head.
“You're lying.”
Rafael showed me documents.
My father's secret accounts.
Large sums.
Research payments.
Investments.
I felt sick.
“He took money.”
“He financed the project.”
“Where did the money come from?”
Rafael smiled.
“Your mother's inheritance.”
Silence.
I remembered her death.
Her estate.
The money that had supposedly disappeared after legal fees.
Rafael had stolen it.
My father had used some of it.
The family had been built on lies.
Again.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Sign over the remaining trust.”
“Why?”
“So I can continue the research.”
“With Lucía?”
“With volunteers.”
I laughed.
“No.”
He looked disappointed.
“Then I will use her.”
I stepped closer.
“You won't.”
He smiled.
“You have courage now.”
“I always did.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You only learned to use it.”
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot.
Rafael fell.
Police stormed the facility.
Lucía ran toward me.
I caught her.
She wrapped her arms around me.
“I knew you'd come.”
“I promised.”
She smiled.
Rafael was alive.
He was arrested.
But before they took him away, he called me.
“One day you'll realize your father was never the hero you thought.”
I answered:
“I don't need him to be.”
Rafael frowned.
“I only need him to have loved me.”
He was taken away.
I returned home with Lucía.
My father was waiting.
We sat together.
For the first time, we talked honestly.
About my brother.
My mother.
The accident.
Project Lumen.
Everything.
“I can't change what I did,” he said.
“No.”
“But I can spend the rest of my life making it right.”
I nodded.
“That matters.”
He smiled.
“Your brother would be proud.”
I looked toward Lucía.
She was sleeping.
“She's like family.”
“She is.”
My father smiled.
“Then make her family.”
I knew what he meant.
He wanted me to adopt her.
May you like
I didn't hesitate.
I would.
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