Chapter 3 - Unearthing the Past
The local police station was cold, brightly lit with fluorescent bulbs, and filled with the background chatter of officers, ringing phones, and ticking clocks.
Lucía arrived twenty minutes later, looking utterly shattered. Her supermarket uniform was rumpled, her hair was disheveled, and her face was pale with shear terror. The moment she burst through the glass doors and saw Valentina sitting on a plastic chair wrapped in a foil blanket, Lucía collapsed to her knees.
"Valentina! Oh God, baby, I'm so sorry!" Lucía wept, reaching out desperately to pull her daughter into her arms.
To Lucía’s absolute devastation, Valentina shrank back slightly, pressing her back against Carmen’s hip and burying her face in her grandmother's skirt.
The rejection hit Lucía like a physical blow. She froze on her knees, her hands trembling in mid-air, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Vale... it's Mommy... Mommy's here..."
"She's overwhelmed, Lucía," Carmen said gently, though her eyes remained firm. She placed a hand on Lucía’s shoulder, guiding her daughter up to sit on an adjacent chair. "Give her time. She was terrified."
"I didn't know, Mom, I swear to God I didn't know!" Lucía cried, hiding her face in her hands. "Rodrigo said his father was just lonely! After our divorce, Rodrigo barely helps with child care. I was drowning in bills! I had to work seven days a week just to pay the rent and keep Vale in daycare! Ernesto offered... he seemed so normal last month..."
"A man who is normal does not lock a child in a room and mistake her for someone else," Carmen replied softly. "Why didn't you ask me, Lucía? Why did you keep pushing me away when I asked to see her?"
Lucía swallowed hard, her chest heaving. "Because... because every time I see you, I feel like a failure. You warned me about Rodrigo. You told me he was secretive, that his family had weird shadows. I didn't want to admit that I couldn't handle everything on my own. I wanted to prove I could do it without asking you for help every week."
Carmen’s expression softened instantly. The anger that had sustained her during the rescue melted into profound maternal grief. She leaned over and pulled her grown daughter into a tight hug. "Oh, Lucía. Loving your daughter doesn't mean doing everything alone. Being strong isn't about hiding your struggles until someone gets hurt."
As mother and daughter wept quietly together, Inspector Morales stepped into the waiting room, holding a blue folder. Her expression was solemn.
"Dra. Lucía? Sra. Carmen?" Morales asked, sitting down across from them. "We just received a preliminary report from the social worker and the medical staff evaluating Don Ernesto."
Lucía wiped her eyes hurriedly. "Is... is he going to face charges? What happened?"
"Don Ernesto has severe, advanced vascular dementia that has gone completely undiagnosed and unmanaged," Inspector Morales explained clearly. "He was living alone in conditions of severe self-neglect. Honestly, he shouldn't have been left unsupervised for an hour, let alone taking care of a four-year-old child."
"Where is Rodrigo?" Carmen asked pointedly. "His father is his responsibility."
"We contacted Mr. Rodrigo half an hour ago," Morales said. "He seemed... extremely defensive on the phone. He is currently on his way here. But while we waited, we ran a background search on the residence and family history to understand the references Sra. Carmen reported regarding the name 'Pilar'."
Lucía frowned, looking confused. "Pilar? Who is Pilar? Ernesto never mentioned anyone by that name."
Inspector Morales opened the folder. "According to state civil records from thirty-two years ago, Ernesto had two children. Rodrigo... and an elder daughter named Pilar."
Lucía’s eyes widened in shock. "What? Rodrigo never told me he had a sister! He always said he was an only child!"
"That's because Pilar disappeared when she was sixteen years old," Inspector Morales revealed quietly. "In 1994, Pilar walked out of the house after a violent argument with her father regarding her desire to leave for college. She was never seen again. The police investigation at the time stalled, and the case went cold. Shortly after, Ernesto's wife fell into deep depression and passed away a few years later."
The room seemed to drop several degrees in temperature.
Carmen looked down at Valentina, who had fallen into a light, restless sleep on her lap, holding the one-eared bear. The tragedy of the situation began to settle like heavy dust. Ernesto hadn't been acting out of pure malice; his rotting, deteriorating brain had dragged him back three decades into the worst nightmare of his life. In his delusion, he had trapped Valentina in that room not to harm her, but because his shattered mind believed he was finally keeping his long-lost daughter, Pilar, from running away again.
"He wasn't trying to hurt her," Carmen murmured, understanding the tragic irony. "He was trying to fix a past that was already broken."
"Intent doesn't negate danger," Morales asserted firmly. "He is unfit to care for anyone, including himself. But there are still unanswered questions about why Rodrigo covered up his father's condition and denied the existence of his own sister."
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At that exact moment, the heavy double doors of the station slammed open. Rodrigo strode into the room, looking flustered, angry, and sweat-stained.
"What is the meaning of this?" Rodrigo shouted, sweeping his gaze across the room until his eyes locked onto Lucía and Carmen. "Lucía, why the hell did you call the police on my father?!"
