Elena’s reaction was explosive. She ripped the photo from his hand, tearing it in half.
“That woman was dismissed a year ago,” she barked. “She was incompetent. Enough of this absurdity.”
Her fury was far too intense.
Why such hatred toward a cleaner? And why did her disappearance align exactly with the day Sebastián lost his son?
That night, Sebastián took Alma to his home, vowing to uncover the truth. As she slept in a bed too big for her small frame, he studied her face. The curve of her eyebrows. The dimple in her cheek.
Memory struck like lightning.
Years earlier — before responsibility, before boardrooms — there had been a brief affair at a company event. A quiet, gentle woman.
María.
His heart thundered.
He hired a private investigator he trusted, Héctor Luna.
Within twenty-four hours, everything unraveled.
María hadn’t been fired — she’d been erased from company records. The same day Lucas was taken. Even worse, Elena had been making regular payments to a private psychiatric facility known as San Aurelio Retreat, infamous for hiding inconvenient people.
The final blow came swiftly.
DNA confirmed it.
Alma was his daughter.