“Half-sister,” she said finally. “We hadn’t seen each other in years.”
That word hit harder than a lie.
Lucy didn’t let her take control.
“It’s not just that you didn’t recognize her,” she said. “It’s what you did after.”
She held up another paper.
“Ines went into surgery. Before they took her, she begged to see her daughter again. But security got an order. They removed Valeria from the hallway.”
Thomas spoke for the first time.
“I was there,” he said quietly. “I saw who gave that order.”
Valentina turned sharply.
“You don’t understand what was happening.”
“Then explain it,” I said. “Because right now it looks like you erased your dying sister.”
Valentina let out a dry laugh.
“You don’t know where I came from,” she said. “You don’t know what she and her mother did to my life.”
Lucy’s grip tightened on the folder.
“That doesn’t give you the right to falsify records.”
I took the paper.
Even without being a lawyer, I knew what I was looking at.
“Patient without family support present.
Minor not confirmed as direct relative.
Refer to social services.”
At the bottom—
Valentina’s signature.
Perfect. Elegant.
Like she’d approved flowers for an event.
Valeria looked up at me.