Chapter 1: The Forbidden Door
Chapter 1: The Forbidden Door
The mansion was quieter than it had been in years.
No one dared interrupt the moment unfolding in the grand foyer.
Mateo still clung tightly to Valeria, his tiny body trembling with each painful sob. She gently rubbed circles across his back, saying nothing. Some wounds, she knew, did not need words. They only needed someone willing to stay.
Alejandro remained frozen where he stood, shards of broken glass scattered around his polished shoes.
For two years, every doctor had told him the same thing.
"Give him time."
"Don't force him."
"Healing cannot be rushed."
Yet none of them had ever reached his son.
A young housemaid had done it in less than ten minutes.
Finally, Mateo's crying slowed.
He loosened his grip just enough to look up at Valeria.
His swollen eyes searched her face as if asking a question he couldn't speak aloud.
Valeria offered him a gentle smile.
"I'm still here."
The little boy nodded almost imperceptibly.
Around them, the guards exchanged stunned glances.
Doña Socorro quietly wiped tears from her cheeks.
Alejandro stepped forward.
"Valeria..."
She looked up.
"I'm sorry my son hurt you."
She instinctively touched the bruised side of her ribs.
"I'll be okay."
"No," Alejandro replied firmly. "You should see a doctor."
Before she could answer, Mateo suddenly grabbed her hand.
His fingers tightened around hers.
"No."
It wasn't spoken.
But everyone understood.
He wasn't letting her leave.
Alejandro slowly exhaled.
"Prepare the east guest room," he ordered one of the staff members. "Miss Gómez will remain here tonight."
Several employees looked at one another in surprise.
No servant had ever been invited to stay inside the family's private quarters.
Not once.
Valeria immediately shook her head.
"Mr. Ríos, I appreciate your kindness, but I have to get home. My little brother—"
"I'll send a driver to check on him," Alejandro interrupted. "Whatever your family needs tonight will be taken care of."
She hesitated.
Hospital bills.
Medicine.
Rent.
Food.
Every reason she had accepted this job rushed through her mind.
Then she looked down.
Mateo still refused to release her hand.
She couldn't bring herself to pull away.
"...Just for tonight," she said quietly.
Alejandro nodded.
"Thank you."
Dinner that evening was unlike anything the mansion had experienced in years.
Mateo actually sat at the table.
Normally, every meal ended with broken dishes, screaming, or the little boy locking himself inside his bedroom.
Tonight, he silently picked at his food while stealing cautious glances toward Valeria.
Whenever she smiled at him, he ate another bite.
The servants could hardly believe what they were witnessing.
Alejandro noticed it too.
"You've done something no specialist could accomplish."
Valeria lowered her eyes.
"I didn't do anything extraordinary."
"I disagree."
She thought for a moment.
"I think everyone has been trying to stop Mateo's anger."
Alejandro frowned.
"And?"
"I think someone should have asked why he needed it."
Silence settled over the dining room.
For the first time in years, Alejandro questioned whether all the expensive experts had been treating symptoms instead of pain.
Later that night, Valeria was shown to a beautiful guest room overlooking the gardens.
It was larger than the tiny apartment where she lived with her younger brother.
Fresh flowers sat beside the bed.
Soft lamps glowed warmly against cream-colored walls.
But sleep refused to come.
She couldn't stop thinking about Mateo.
There had been something unusual in his eyes.
Not simply grief.
Fear.
As though he expected something terrible to happen every single day.
Around midnight, she heard it.
A soft knock.
Three quiet taps.
She opened the door.
Mateo stood outside wearing blue pajamas and clutching a worn stuffed rabbit.
Neither of them spoke.
He simply reached for her hand again.
"You can't sleep either?" she whispered.
The little boy slowly shook his head.
"Do you want to show me something?"
His eyes widened.
Then he nodded.
Very carefully.
Valeria slipped on her shoes without making a sound.
The mansion was almost completely dark.
Only small wall lamps illuminated the endless corridors.
Mateo walked ahead, never letting go of her hand.
They passed the grand staircase.
Then the library.
Then the family chapel.
Finally, they entered a hallway she had not seen before.
The air felt colder.
Dust covered the hardwood floor.
Most of the portraits hanging along the walls had been draped with white sheets.
She suddenly remembered Doña Socorro's warning.
"Never go near the north wing."
Mateo stopped beside an old wooden door.
It was different from the others.
Its brass handle was covered with scratches.
A thick chain had once been wrapped around it, though it now hung loosely from a single hook.
Several fresh scrape marks surrounded the lock.
Someone had been opening it.
Recently.
Valeria knelt beside Mateo.
"Is this where you wanted to bring me?"
He nodded.
His small hand slowly reached into his pajama pocket.
To her surprise, he pulled out a tiny brass key.
Her heartbeat quickened.
"Mateo..."
He looked directly into her eyes.
Then placed the key into her palm.
Without hesitation.
As if he had been waiting for someone he could finally trust.
Valeria stared at the key.
"Where did you get this?"
Mateo couldn't answer.
Instead, he gently pushed her hand toward the lock.
She hesitated.
She remembered Alejandro's rules.
She remembered Doña Socorro's warning.
She remembered that every employee had been told never to enter this part of the mansion.
This wasn't her place.
She should turn around.
She should take Mateo back to his room.
Instead...
She slid the key into the lock.
Click.
The sound echoed through the silent hallway.
The old door slowly creaked open.
A cool breeze drifted out.
The room beyond was untouched by time.
Moonlight spilled through lace curtains onto a white rocking chair.
Children's books rested neatly on a shelf.
A half-finished knitting project still sat beside a basket of yarn.
Fresh roses—fresh, not artificial—stood in a crystal vase near the window.
Someone had replaced them only days earlier.
Valeria stepped inside.
Every photograph displayed the same smiling woman.
Mateo's mother.
Elena Ríos.
Everything remained exactly as though she had simply stepped outside and planned to return.
The perfume lingering in the air was faint but unmistakable.
Someone had preserved this room with extraordinary care.
Behind her, Mateo quietly closed the door.
He walked straight to the rocking chair.
Then he pointed toward the far wall.
Valeria followed his finger.
At first, she saw nothing unusual.
Then the moonlight shifted.
Hidden behind an elegant painting was the outline of another door.
A secret door.
Before she could move closer, footsteps echoed somewhere outside in the hallway.
Heavy footsteps.
Someone was coming.
Mateo's eyes filled with panic.
He grabbed Valeria's wrist with surprising strength and silently shook his head.
Don't let them know you're here.
May you like
The footsteps stopped directly outside the bedroom.
Then came the unmistakable sound of a key sliding into the lock.
