The Woman Who Carried His Dead Daughter
CHAPTER 3 - The Friend Who Waited for a Funeral
Camila denied everything.
She claimed Mara had abducted Sophia and drugged her before appearing at the gala. Her attorneys described Mara as an unstable employee desperate for money.
Mara owned almost nothing.
She lived in a rented room, worked two jobs, and had recently been threatened with eviction.
That made her an easy target.
It did not make her guilty.
Detectives recovered Mara's phone from the alley. She had dropped it while climbing into the waste container. The final recording continued after the screen cracked.
Camila's voice could be heard clearly.
"By midnight, Adrian will believe his daughter is in a funeral home."
Dr. Hale answered, "And if she wakes?"
"She will not survive the cold."
Police arrested Hale at a private airfield. Faced with attempted-murder charges, he confessed.
Camila had paid him to falsify Sophia's death. The sedative was intended to keep the child unconscious until exposure finished what the drug had begun.
Financial investigators then discovered that Camila had stolen millions from the Vale Group during Natalie's illness.
Natalie found suspicious transfers shortly before giving birth. She placed copies of the records in a safe-deposit box and wrote Adrian a letter.
Camila intercepted the key before Adrian ever saw it.
The recovered letter contained one painful sentence:
"If I am gone, protect Sophia from the woman who calls herself my friend."
Adrian read it twice.
Mara watched him from across the interview room.
"You trusted Camila," she said. "That does not make her crimes your fault."
"No," Adrian replied. "But refusing to listen to Natalie was my choice."
Sophia recovered after two days in intensive care.
When Adrian finally held her, he wept against her blanket.
Mara remained near the doorway.
"You saved my daughter," he told her. "Ask me for anything."
"I do not want your money."
"What do you want?"
"For people like me to be believed before a rich person decides we are disposable."
Adrian lowered his head.
Before he could answer, a detective entered with records from Natalie's final night.
Camila had not only controlled Sophia's treatment.
She had changed Natalie's medication hours before her fatal hemorrhage.
The investigation was no longer about one attempted murder. Camila may have killed Sophia's mother first.
