Chapter Two: The Missing Years
Detective Isabel Moreno arrived with a court order authorizing a formal investigation.
She interviewed the household staff one by one.
Most said little.
Until Rosa, the oldest housekeeper, finally spoke.
"For years," she whispered, "everyone was told Mrs. Castillo had chosen to leave."
"What made you doubt that?" the detective asked.
Rosa looked toward Elena.
"She never stopped asking when Mr. Castillo would come home."
Investigators compared financial records, employee contracts, and internal correspondence.
Several documents contained forged signatures authorizing changes to household management and property administration.
Experts quickly determined those signatures were not Elena's.
Alejandro sat beside his wife while she slowly described fragments of the previous three years.
Not every memory had returned.
Trauma had blurred many details.
But she clearly remembered being isolated from friends, prevented from communicating freely, and repeatedly told that no one was looking for her.
Alejandro listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he simply took her hand.
"I'm here now," he said.
May you like
She looked at him for a long moment.
"I know."
