Chapter 47 - THE DOCTOR BROUGHT MATEO HOME—BUT THE SECRET SHE REVEALED MADE HIS SISTER QUESTION EVERYTHING
The security gates remained closed.
Beyond them, Mateo Ramirez stood beneath the cold evening sky, his hands raised slightly as two armed security officers approached.
Beside him was Dr. Helen Ward.
She looked exhausted.
Her dark coat was stained with mud, and a bruise darkened the side of her face.
Sofia watched through the security monitor.
Mateo appeared frightened.
But he did not appear restrained.
That distinction mattered.
"Why is he with her?" Sofia asked.
Daniel was already contacting the investigators handling Ward's escape.
"We're going to find out."
Noah stood several feet behind them.
His face had changed when he saw Ward.
The fear was immediate.
Physical.
Sofia noticed.
"You know her."
Noah nodded.
"She supervised the facility where they kept me."
David looked toward him.
"You never told Evelyn that."
"Because I didn't know her real name then."
On the monitor, Mateo spoke urgently to a security guard.
Sofia activated the intercom.
"Mateo."
Her brother looked toward the camera.
"Sofia!"
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Why are you with Helen Ward?"
Mateo glanced toward the doctor.
"Because she came to the hospital where I was working."
Sofia frowned.
"What did she want?"
"She said someone had falsified my medical history."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Mateo, step away from her."
Mateo hesitated.
Ward raised her hands.
"I'm not holding him here."
Sofia's voice hardened.
"Then move away from him."
Ward obeyed.
Police arrived twelve minutes later.
Ward was taken into custody without resistance.
Mateo entered Hawthorne Villa after officers confirmed he was safe.
Sofia embraced him so tightly that he laughed nervously.
"Hey. I'm okay."
She pulled back.
"Do you have any idea how frightening that was?"
"Yes."
"Then explain."
Mateo looked around the foyer.
His eyes stopped on Noah.
"Who is that?"
Sofia hesitated.
"Someone who says he knows something about our family."
Mateo stared.
"That's why Ward came to me."
Daniel guided everyone into the library.
The investigators joined by secure video connection, and Mateo explained what had happened.
Ward had appeared at the hospital carrying a folder containing pediatric records.
She claimed the records proved Mateo had been part of a discontinued research program.
Mateo had refused to leave with her until she agreed to accompany him to the police.
But when they approached the local station, Ward panicked.
She claimed someone inside law enforcement had helped arrange her escape.
Mateo decided to bring her directly to Hawthorne Villa, where he knew independent investigators were already working.
Sofia listened without interrupting.
Then she asked the question that mattered.
"Why didn't you call me?"
Mateo lowered his eyes.
"Because she said you might be involved."
Silence.
Sofia stared.
"Involved how?"
"She said your medical records were connected to mine."
Noah stepped forward.
"She's telling part of the truth."
Mateo turned sharply.
"Who are you?"
"Noah."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"No," Noah admitted. "It doesn't."
Daniel looked toward the investigators.
"We need independent verification of every document."
One investigator nodded.
"We're already arranging it."
Sofia looked at Mateo.
"Nobody is going to decide who you are based on something Ward says."
Mateo's expression softened.
"I know."
But the fear remained.
Later that night, after the investigators had collected the documents, Mateo sat alone in the kitchen.
Sofia found him staring at a photograph on his phone.
It showed their family years earlier.
Luis stood behind them, smiling.
Isabella sat beside him.
Sofia was a teenager.
Mateo was a little boy holding a birthday cake.
"Do you remember that day?" Mateo asked.
Sofia smiled faintly.
"You dropped the cake."
"I was six."
"You blamed the dog."
"We didn't have a dog."
"Exactly."
Mateo laughed.
Then his smile disappeared.
"Do you think Dad knew?"
Sofia sat beside him.
"I don't know."
"Everybody keeps saying he was protecting us."
"I know."
Mateo looked at the photograph.
"What if he knew I wasn't really his son?"
Sofia took his hand.
"That wouldn't change the fact that he raised you."
Mateo swallowed.
"Would it change how you see me?"
Sofia stared at him.
"Never."
He nodded, fighting tears.
For a few minutes, they sat quietly.
Then Mateo reached into his pocket.
"There's something I didn't give the investigators."
Sofia frowned.
"What?"
"A note."
"From Ward?"
"No."
Mateo unfolded a small piece of paper.
"She said someone left it at the hospital before she arrived."
Sofia read the message.
IF THEY TELL YOU THAT YOU WERE CREATED, ASK WHO DECIDED YOU WERE DISPOSABLE.
Her expression hardened.
"Who wrote this?"
Mateo shook his head.
"I don't know."
Sofia looked at the back.
There was a symbol.
A small black star.
The same symbol that had appeared throughout the Meridian records.
Sofia immediately photographed the note and sent it to the investigators.
Then her phone rang.
Daniel.
"Sofia, come to the library."
"What's wrong?"
His voice was tight.
"The laboratory recovered Mateo's original birth registration."
Sofia stood.
"And?"
Daniel hesitated.
"There's a second name on it."
"Whose?"
Daniel answered quietly.
"Noah's."
Sofia looked toward the kitchen doorway.
Noah was standing there.
He had heard everything.
May you like
And the expression on his face told her he already knew.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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