Chapter 3 - THE BLUE DOOR
The blue door was not in the mansion.
It belonged to an abandoned cottage on the northern edge of the Moreira estate, beyond the old orchard and the disused greenhouse.
Alejandro had not visited the cottage since childhood.
His father had forbidden the family from going there after Isabel's disappearance. He had said the structure was unsafe and ordered the gardeners to let the path grow over.
Beatrice remembered it immediately.
"Your mother painted that door," she said. "She said blue was the color of places where people could begin again."
Alejandro took Mateo, Rosa, and two trusted security officers to the cottage.
Celeste insisted on coming.
"I am your future wife," she said. "You cannot exclude me from a family matter."
Alejandro looked at her.
"I can exclude anyone I choose."
She went quiet.
The cottage stood behind a wall of ivy. Its windows were boarded, and the roof sagged in the middle. But the blue door remained, faded and scratched.
Mateo walked toward it.
"Mom said there would be a star."
At the bottom corner, nearly hidden beneath layers of paint, was a small silver star nailed into the wood.
Rosa began to cry.
"I helped her put that there."
Alejandro turned.
"You knew Isabel was alive?"
Rosa nodded.
"I knew she was frightened. I didn't know where she went after that night."
"What happened?"
Rosa looked at the door.
"Your father found out she was pregnant. He wanted the child taken away. He said Rafael was a disgrace and that the baby would never carry the Moreira name."
Alejandro's jaw tightened.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"She tried. Your father intercepted her letters. When she came to the house, he locked her in the east wing. I helped her escape through the service passage."
"Who helped her?"
Rosa's eyes moved toward Celeste.
The fiancée stood very still.
"Rosa," Alejandro said, "look at me."
The maid did.
"Who helped Isabel?"
"I saw a young woman waiting by the gate. She wore a silver bracelet like the one Mateo has."
Celeste's face drained of color.
Alejandro turned toward her.
"Your bracelet."
She shook her head.
"I was a child."
"How old?"
"Sixteen."
"Did you know Isabel?"
Celeste looked at the cottage.
"I knew of her."
Mateo tugged Alejandro's sleeve.
"Mom said there was something behind the blue door."
The lock was rusted. One of the security officers forced it open.
Inside, the cottage smelled of dust and damp wood. A narrow table stood beneath the window. On it lay a small wooden music box, a folded blanket, and a tin container.
Mateo ran to the table.
"That's Mom's."
Alejandro opened the tin.
Inside were letters, a hospital bracelet, and a photograph of a newborn baby.
The hospital bracelet carried the name Mateo Isabel Moreira.
Alejandro stared at it.
The child was not merely connected to his sister.
He was a Moreira.
At the bottom of the tin lay a folded note.
If you are reading this, the person who hid me has finally been found. The blue door is not the answer. It is the beginning. The truth is in the place where our father kept the family records.
Alejandro looked at Rosa.
"The archive room."
She nodded.
Then a noise came from outside.
A car door slammed.
One of the security officers stepped to the window.
"Sir, someone is leaving the estate."
May you like
Alejandro turned.
Celeste was gone.
