“So you knew.”
Esther shook her head.
“Not when I became pregnant.”
“But later.”
“Yes.”
“How much later?”
“After Rafael died.”
Gabriel whispered:
“His doctor contacted the family.”
Alejandro looked at his father.
“Your parents knew?”
Gabriel nodded.
Alejandro felt sick.
“How many people knew I might not be your biological son?”
Silence.
Gabriel said:
“My parents.”
“Anyone else?”
“Family attorney.”
Alejandro laughed bitterly.
“Wonderful.”
He looked around the luxurious bedroom.
“The entire family infrastructure knew before I did.”
Nobody answered.
Valeria pointed toward another page.
“There’s more.”
Alejandro almost laughed.
“Of course there is.”
She hesitated.
He looked at her.
“What?”
“The anonymous photograph.”
Alejandro frowned.
“What about it?”
“The doctor didn’t send it.”
“Who did?”
Valeria looked toward Gabriel.
His father stared at Esther.
Alejandro understood.
“Dad?”
Gabriel swallowed.
“I did.”
Alejandro froze.
“You sent me the photograph?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Gabriel’s voice shook.
“Because your mother was never going to tell you.”
Esther turned.
“You promised.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“I promised thirty-nine years ago.”
“And you broke that promise today.”
“I should have broken it thirty years earlier.”
Alejandro stared at the man.
“You made it look like Valeria was cheating.”
Gabriel’s face crumpled.
“I did not know how else to force the secret into daylight.”
“You could have called me.”
“I tried many times.”
“When?”
Gabriel laughed sadly.
“Every birthday.”
Alejandro stared.
“Every time you asked about family history.”
His father looked down.
“Every time you told me you were trying for children.”
Tears appeared.
“And every time I failed.”
Alejandro’s anger did not disappear.
But something else entered it.
Understanding.
Painful.
Unwelcome.
Human.
Gabriel continued.
“After the second miscarriage, I told Esther we had to tell you.”
Alejandro looked at his mother.
“She refused.”
Esther shook her head.
“I asked for time.”
“You had thirty-nine years.”
Gabriel’s voice sharpened.
“There was no more time.”
Esther looked furious.
“You think humiliating Valeria was the solution?”
Gabriel flinched.
“I did not expect Alejandro to assume an affair.”
Alejandro almost laughed.
“A strange man leaving my house at two in the morning and a note saying ask your wife who he is?”
Gabriel lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
“I can see how nobody could possibly misunderstand that.”
Valeria spoke softly.
“He was trying to protect you too.”
Alejandro turned.
“Please don’t defend anyone tonight.”
She stopped.
He immediately regretted the cruelty in his tone.
He saw it in her face.
Alejandro closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Valeria wiped her tears.
“You’re allowed to be angry.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I’m allowed to be angry. I’m not allowed to use you as a target because everybody else lied.”
The sentence changed something.
Valeria looked at him differently.
Alejandro sat beside her again.
He did not touch her yet.
“What exactly happened with the doctor?”