“She’s under state protection,” Carmela replied.
He stepped closer.
“She needs family. Not charity.”
“She needed protection when she arrived with bruises.”
His eyes darkened.
“Be careful what you imply.”
He smiled — but it did not reach his eyes.
“I have connections. I can shut this place down.”
Behind the office door, Salomé stood trembling.
Her eyes locked on her uncle.
Pure terror.
For a split second, Gonzalo’s mask slipped.
Carmela saw it.
Danger.
“Leave,” she ordered.
He smiled coldly.
“This isn’t over.”
THE NAME IN THE NIGHT
Later, Carmela called Dolores.
“There’s something else.”
Salomé screamed a name every night.
Not her father.
Not her mother.
“Martín.”
Martín Reyes.
The gardener.
He worked for the Fuentes family for three years.
He disappeared a week after Sara died.
No investigation.
No follow-up.
His mother filed a missing person report.
Closed.
Dolores felt the weight of it.
A child witness.
A missing gardener.
A forged will.
