Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN NOBODY WAS SUPPOSED TO FIND
Tomás didn't remember crossing the room.
One moment, he was staring at the locked door.
The next, he was standing directly in front of it.
"Who's in there?"
A faint movement came from inside.
Then a whisper.
"Please help me."
Tomás grabbed the handle.
Locked.
"Rafael!"
His security chief was already moving.
Eduardo stepped in front of him.
"Tomás, you're making a serious mistake."
Tomás turned.
"Get out of my way."
"You don't understand the situation."
"Then explain it."
Eduardo lowered his voice.
"That woman is unstable."
"Who is she?"
"Someone Carlota was helping."
"Helping how?"
Eduardo's jaw tightened.
"She's had some problems."
Behind Tomás, Carlota began crying.
It was sudden.
Loud.
Perfectly timed.
"Darling, please listen to me."
She clutched her belly.
"I was trying to protect you."
Tomás looked at her.
"Protect me from what?"
"From another scandal."
The word hung in the air.
Another scandal.
Six years earlier, the death of Tomás's wife and daughter had dominated Spanish newspapers for weeks.
Every photograph of the ruined car had felt like another knife.
Afterward, he had withdrawn from public life.
He had stopped attending social events.
He had stopped celebrating birthdays.
For nearly three years, he had barely lived.
Carlota had entered his life when he was at his lowest.
She had been kind.
Patient.
Understanding.
Or at least, he had believed she was.
Now she stood before him, apparently pregnant, while a strange woman begged for help behind a locked door.
"What scandal?" he asked.
Carlota wiped her eyes.
"She's been threatening me."
The voice behind the door grew louder.
"That's not true!"
Carlota flinched.
"She claims the baby I'm carrying belongs to her."
Tomás stared.
"What?"
"It's delusional."
The woman inside began pounding weakly against the door.
"Please don't believe her!"
Eduardo stepped forward.
"She's experiencing a psychiatric crisis."
"Then why is she locked inside my house?" Tomás demanded.
Neither sibling answered.
Rafael worked the lock.
There was a metallic click.
The door opened.
Inside was a small sitting room that had once belonged to Elena.
The curtains were closed.
A half-empty bottle of water sat on a side table.
A plate containing an untouched sandwich rested beside it.
On the couch lay a young woman in a pale gray dress.
Her wrists were red.
Her dark hair hung loose around a frightened face.
She looked exhausted.
And she was visibly pregnant.
Tomás stopped.
The woman's hands immediately moved over her stomach.
"Don't let him touch me."
She was staring at Eduardo.
Rafael stepped between them.
"Nobody is touching you, ma'am."
Tomás crouched a few feet away.
"My name is Tomás Valdés."
The woman looked at him with terrified eyes.
"I know who you are."
"What's your name?"
"Marina."
"Marina what?"
She hesitated.
"Marina Serrano."
Tomás nodded gently.
"Marina, can you tell me what's happening?"
Her lips trembled.
"Your wife promised she would help me."
"Help you with what?"
"My baby."
Carlota burst into the room.
"She's lying!"
Rafael raised an arm.
"Ma'am, please stay back."
Carlota glared at him.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Then move."
"No."
Tomás had never heard Rafael speak to Carlota that way before.
Marina began shaking.
"They told me I could stay somewhere safe until I delivered."
"Who told you?"
"Carlota."
Tomás looked at his wife.
She shook her head.
"She's twisting everything."
Marina continued.
"They said they would pay for my medical care."
"Why?"
"Because I had nowhere to go."
Her voice broke.
"My boyfriend died in February."
"I'm sorry."
"I lost my apartment."
She wiped her cheeks.
"I was sleeping in my cousin's car when someone introduced me to Eduardo."
Eduardo laughed bitterly.
"Oh, this is ridiculous."
Marina jerked at the sound of his voice.
"They said there was a wealthy couple who couldn't have children."
Tomás felt the first stirrings of dread.
"What couple?"
Marina looked directly at Carlota.
"Her."
Silence.
Then she looked at him.
"And you."
Tomás slowly shook his head.
"I don't understand."
"They wanted my baby."
Carlota stepped forward.
"That is a disgusting accusation."
Marina reached beneath the couch cushion.
Eduardo moved suddenly.
"Don't!"
But Rafael caught his arm.
Marina pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"I kept one copy."
Her hands shook so badly that Tomás had to take it for her.
It was a contract.
A private agreement bearing the name of a charitable foundation.
Fundación Nueva Esperanza.
New Hope Foundation.
Tomás recognized the organization.
Carlota had convinced him to donate nearly two million euros to it during their first year of marriage.
She said it helped vulnerable pregnant women find housing and medical care.
He had believed her.
Now he read the first paragraph.
The foundation agreed to provide accommodation and financial assistance to Marina Serrano throughout her pregnancy.
In exchange, Marina was expected to cooperate with an adoption-placement process after delivery.
That alone was troubling.
But the next paragraph made his stomach twist.
The agreement stated that all decisions concerning the infant's placement would be made by the foundation's appointed representatives.
No independent lawyer was named.
No court approval was mentioned.
No official adoption agency appeared anywhere in the document.
At the bottom were two signatures.
Marina Serrano.
Eduardo Salinas.
Tomás looked up.
"Why is my financial adviser signing agreements about babies?"
Eduardo folded his arms.
"It was a private charitable arrangement."
"Then why was Marina locked in this room?"
"She became aggressive."
Marina shook her head.
"They locked me in because I wanted to leave."
Tomás turned toward her.
"Why did you want to leave?"
She looked at Carlota.
"Because I found out what she planned to do."
Carlota's face lost its color.
Marina began crying.
"She wasn't going to adopt my baby."
Tomás waited.
Marina swallowed.
"She was going to pretend she'd given birth to her."
The room went silent.
Tomás turned toward Carlota.
His wife was still holding her stomach.
Still standing in the same beautiful emerald gown.
Still wearing the expression of a woman who expected everyone to believe her.
"Take your hand off your belly," he said quietly.
Carlota stared.
"What?"
"Take your hand off it."
"Tomás, you're frightening me."
"Are you pregnant?"
She began crying harder.
"How can you ask me that?"
He stepped closer.
"Answer me."
"I am carrying our daughter!"
For a moment, the old tenderness returned to his chest.
He remembered the first time she had told him.
A small gift box.
A pair of pink baby socks.
Her tears.
His own disbelief.
After so many years of grief, he had allowed himself to dream again.
Now he felt that dream slipping away.
"Then we'll have a doctor examine you," he said.
Carlota went still.
Marina whispered:
"She won't do it."
Tomás looked at her.
"Why not?"
Marina's voice was barely audible.
"Because the baby isn't in her belly."
She pointed toward the hallway.
May you like
"It's in the blue bag."
And suddenly, downstairs, Vega began screaming for her mother.
