Chapter 7 - The Maid Who Saw EverythingHer name was Elena Cruz.
For ten years, she had worked inside the mansion.
She had seen Helena's cruelty.
She had seen Victor's meetings.
And she had seen the night Sofia's father disappeared.
“He wasn't alone,” Elena said.
Sofia stepped closer.
“Who was with him?”
Elena looked at Leonardo.
“Your father.”
Leonardo's face tightened.
“But my father was dead.”
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“He was alive that night.”
She described the scene.
Two men had argued inside the library.
Helena arrived.
Victor followed.
Then came a fourth person.
A young Leonardo.
Sofia looked at him.
“You?”
Leonardo's face went pale.
“I don't remember.”
“You were seventeen,” Elena said. “Your mother drugged you.”
Leonardo stumbled backward.
“No.”
“She wanted you to witness enough to believe your father had attacked your mother. Then she used the confusion to manipulate you.”
Sofia felt sick.
“So his memories were altered?”
“Not altered,” Elena said. “Buried.”
She handed Sofia an old photograph.
It showed Leonardo standing outside the library that night.
His shirt was covered in blood.
But the blood wasn't his.
Sofia looked at him.
“You were there.”
Leonardo stared at the photograph.
Suddenly, a memory struck.
A scream.
A glass breaking.
His father shouting:
“Leonardo, run!”
Then Helena's voice.
“Don't look back.”
He dropped the photograph.
“I remember.”
Everyone became silent.
Leonardo's breathing became ragged.
“My father was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And I saw him.”
“Yes.”
“What happened next?”
Elena lowered her eyes.
“Your mother closed the door.”
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“And?”
“She came out alone.”
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