Chapter 3
The room fell silent.
I kept my breathing slow and uneven, forcing myself not to react.
Even through my closed eyelids, I could feel them staring at me.
Raquel was the first to speak.
"Are you absolutely sure this is real?"
Marco flipped through the pages again.
"It has Ricardo's signature. The notary's seal. Everything."
"But why would she change it now?"
"Because she heard something."
"No."
Raquel shook her head.
"If she'd heard us, she would've confronted us."
Marco's jaw tightened.
"Then someone warned her."
Neither of them noticed the tiny red light blinking inside the digital alarm clock on the shelf across the room.
It wasn't an alarm clock anymore.
It was a hidden camera.
Every word.
Every expression.
Every movement.
Everything was being recorded.
Raquel snatched the fake will from Marco's hands.
She read it twice before slamming it onto the bedside table.
"One hundred thousand pesos?"
She almost screamed.
"After everything we've done?"
Marco grabbed her arm.
"Keep your voice down."
"I don't care!"
Her whisper was sharp enough to cut glass.
"I've wasted six years pretending to love that old woman."
I felt my stomach twist.
Six years.
Every birthday gift.
Every Christmas dinner.
Every hug.
Every "I love you, Mom."
A lie.
"I married you because your mother was rich," Raquel hissed.
"You promised we'd never have to work again."
"We won't."
Marco spoke with frightening calm.
"We just need another plan."
That evening, after visiting hours ended, Dr. Ramiro entered carrying my medical chart.
He quietly locked the door.
"They took the bait."
"I heard."
He nodded.
"The camera heard everything too."
He placed a tablet on my lap.
With a few taps, security footage filled the screen.
Marco and Raquel.
Standing over my bed.
Reading the fake will.
Threatening me.
Every second had been captured in crystal-clear video.
I watched in silence until the recording ended.
"Is it enough?" I asked.
Dr. Ramiro shook his head.
"It's enough for fraud."
"But not attempted murder."
"They have to make the next move themselves."
I lowered my eyes.
"You think they will."
"I don't think."
He looked directly at me.
"I know."
The following morning, the atmosphere inside the hospital had changed.
Two plainclothes detectives were already stationed on the floor.
Neither Marco nor Raquel noticed them.
To everyone else, they looked like ordinary visitors.
Only I knew they were waiting.
Waiting for one mistake.
One careless decision.
One crime committed in real time.
Around noon, a young nurse entered my room.
She looked nervous.
Almost too nervous.
She avoided my eyes while checking my IV bag.
Dr. Ramiro stepped inside only seconds later.
"Everything all right?"
The nurse jumped.
"Y-Yes, Doctor."
He glanced at the medication hanging beside my bed.
Then he frowned.
"I didn't prescribe this."
The young woman's face turned white.
"I..."
"What medication is this?"
"I..."
She couldn't answer.
Dr. Ramiro calmly disconnected the IV before a single drop reached my bloodstream.
The nurse burst into tears.
"I'm sorry!"
"I'm so sorry!"
"I didn't want to do it!"
She collapsed into a chair, shaking uncontrollably.
"He offered me money."
"Who?"
She covered her face.
"Your son."
The room became perfectly still.
"How much?" Dr. Ramiro asked quietly.
"One hundred thousand pesos."
My heart broke all over again.
My own son had placed a price on my life.
One hundred thousand pesos.
Less than the value of one of Raquel's designer handbags.
Within an hour, Detectives Javier Morales and Lucía Herrera were interviewing the young nurse.
She confessed everything.
Marco had contacted her through a friend.
He told her his mother was suffering terribly.
He claimed she wanted "help" ending the pain.
At first, she believed him.
But when he handed her an envelope filled with cash and instructed her to replace one medication with another...
She realized exactly what he wanted.
She had nearly walked away.
Nearly.
Instead, fear and debt convinced her to accept.
Until guilt overwhelmed her the moment she saw me lying helpless in the hospital bed.
She never injected the poison.
Instead, she secretly informed Dr. Ramiro before beginning her shift.
Together, they replaced the lethal vial with harmless saline solution.
Everything afterward had been part of a carefully monitored police operation.
Every meeting.
Every payment.
Every phone call.
Every message.
Documented.
Recorded.
Preserved.
That evening, Marco returned alone.
Raquel, he explained, wasn't feeling well.
He sat beside my bed and gently took my hand.
The same hand he had once held while crossing busy streets as a child.
"You know, Mom..."
His voice sounded almost sincere.
"I've been thinking about Dad lately."
I remained motionless.
"He always said family should stick together."
He sighed dramatically.
"I wish things had been different."
For a brief moment...
I almost wanted to believe him.
Then he leaned closer.
"So why did you change your will?"
There it was.
Not concern.
Not regret.
Only money.
He squeezed my fingers.
"If you're awake..."
"Blink once."
I didn't move.
He waited.
Nothing.
Then his expression changed completely.
The warmth vanished from his face.
His eyes became cold.
Calculating.
Patient.
He slowly stood up.
"I guess there's only one way left."
He glanced toward the hallway.
No one was there.
Or so he thought.
Hidden cameras watched every angle.
Two detectives waited just around the corner.
Dr. Ramiro monitored every heartbeat from the nurses' station.
Marco quietly reached into his jacket.
He removed the same small glass vial.
This time...
There would be no hesitation.
He uncapped it.
His hand moved toward the IV line.
Closer.
Closer.
Just inches away from injecting the deadly liquid into my bloodstream—
And in that terrifying moment, I realized something that hurt even more than the betrayal itself.
May you like
The little boy I had raised...
Was gone forever.
