Aurelio Sánchez had business connections with Gonzalo Fuentes, Ramiro’s younger brother. Together they had purchased several properties in the last 5 years.
properties that previously belonged to the Fuentes family.
Dolores dialed a number on her phone. “Carlos, I need you to investigate Gonzalo Fuentes’s businesses. Everything: every property, every transaction, every partner.”
And I need to know if Sara Fuentes knew something she shouldn’t have. Gonzalo Fuentes arrived at the Santa María home in a luxury black car that contrasted sharply with the modesty of the place.
He wore an impeccable suit and a blue tie, always blue.
Carmela saw him come in and felt a chill.
There was something about that man that reminded him of snakes. Elegant on the outside, poisonous on the inside. “I’ve come to see my niece,” Gonzalo said without greeting her.
“I have the right. I am her legal guardian. You relinquished that guardianship 6 months ago when you left her here,” Carmela replied firmly.
She is now under state protection. Circumstances have changed. With everything that’s happening with my brother, the girl needs a family.
She needs someone to take care of her. To take care of her like she was taken care of before she was brought here with bruises on her arms.
Gonzalo’s eyes darkened. Be careful what you imply, ma’am. I have connections.
Important contacts. I can shut this place down in a week if I set my mind to it. He’s threatening me.
I’m informing you. I want to see Salomé now. At that moment, Carmela noticed movement behind her office door. Salomé had heard everything.
The girl was pale, trembling, her eyes fixed on her uncle. There was pure terror in that look. Gonzalo saw the girl too.
For a second, his mask of respectability slipped. What Carmela saw in his eyes convinced her of something. That man was dangerous, and Salomé knew it better than anyone.
“Go away,” Carmela said. “Go now or I’ll call the police.” Gonzalo smiled. A cold smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
This isn’t over, ma’am. I’ll be back. And when I do, no one will protect that girl from her family. The prison visiting room felt colder than ever.
Ramiro waited handcuffed to the table, but his demeanor had changed. He was no longer the defeated man of two days ago. There was fire in his eyes.
Dolores sat down opposite him and studied him silently. My name is Dolores Medina. I was a criminal defense attorney for 40 years.
I saw your case on the news and I need you to tell me everything. Why does he care? Nobody believed me for five years.
Why would you be any different? Because 30 years ago I let an innocent man be condemned.
I couldn’t save him. That haunts me every night.
I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. Ramiro looked at her for a long time, assessing whether he could trust this stranger. Finally, he spoke. I drank a lot that night.
I had lost my job. I was devastated. I fell asleep on the sofa and don’t remember anything else until I woke up with blood on my hands and Sara on the floor.
I called emergency services, tried to help her, and when the police arrived they arrested me. Did you hear anything? Did you see anyone?
Nothing, but now I know something I didn’t know before.
Dolores leaned forward. “What did she say to you, Salomé?” Ramiro closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were filled with tears. “My daughter was there that night.”
She saw everything from the hallway. She was three years old and she saw everything. She told me that someone came into the house after I fell asleep. Someone she knew, someone she trusted.
Who? Ramiro uttered a name Dolores already suspected. My brother Gonzalo, my own flesh and blood.
Dolores arrived home after midnight. Ramiro’s revelations were swirling in her head. A traitorous brother, a child witness.
Five years of silence. Why did Salome never speak? What kept her quiet for so long? She opened the door and turned on the light. What she saw paralyzed her.
Her house had been searched. Drawers were open, papers were scattered on the floor, and books had been knocked off the shelves. Whoever broke in wasn’t looking to steal; they were looking for something specific.
The Fuentes case file walked carefully through the clutter to his desk.
The file was still there, seemingly intact, but on top of it was something that hadn’t been there before: a photograph.
It was an old photo of Sara Fuentes, smiling, young, full of life. Someone had drawn a red X over her face with a permanent marker. Underneath it was a handwritten note.
Some truths must remain buried. Stop investigating or you’ll end up like her. Dolores’s hands trembled, not from fear, but from rage.
Whoever sent this message did not know Dolores Medina.
I didn’t know that I had survived a heart attack, a failed marriage, and 40 years of facing criminals in court.
He didn’t know that threatening her was the worst possible strategy. He picked up his phone and called Carlos.
Someone broke into my house. Do they know I’m investigating? That means there’s something they don’t want me to find out. Double your efforts.
I want to know everything about Gonzalo Fuentes, about Judge Aurelio Sánchez, and about any connection between them.
And I want to know what Sara discovered before she died.
Outside, a black car was parked at the end of the street. Inside, someone was watching Dolores’s house with the patience of a predator.
The hunt had begun. Ticarlos worked all night and delivered his findings to Dolores at a discreet café far from the city center. What he brought was explosive.
Gonzalo Fuentes went from being an office worker to a real estate entrepreneur in less than 2 years, he explained while spreading documents on the table.
Justo después de que su hermano fue condenado, empezó a comprar propiedades.
Muchas propiedades. ¿Con qué dinero? Ese es el punto. Heredó las tierras de sus padres.
Tierras que supuestamente le correspondían a Ramiro también. Pero según este testamento, Carlos señaló un documento. Los padres dejaron todo a Gonzalo.
Dolores examinó el testamento. Algo no cuadraba. Los padres de Ramiro murieron 6 meses antes del crimen. Y este testamento apareció después de la condena.
Exacto. Y el abogado que lo validó fue Aurelio Sánchez. Antes de ser fiscal ejercía como abogado privado. Este fue uno de sus últimos casos antes de entrar al Ministerio Público.
Dolores sintió que las piezas comenzaban a encajar.
Entonces Aurelio validó un testamento sospechoso que beneficiaba a Gonzalo. Luego se convirtió en fiscal y llevó el caso contra Ramiro.
Y ahora ambos son socios en negocios inmobiliarios. Hay más, dijo Carlos bajando la voz. Sara Fuentes trabajaba como contadora antes de casarse.
Hace 5 años, semanas antes de morir, solicitó copias de varios documentos legales de la familia Fuentes, incluyendo el testamento original de sus suegros.
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