CHAPTER 2 – THE ULTRASOUND THAT DESTROYED THE CASTILLO ILLUSION
The clinic smelled like sterile luxury—white marble floors, soft gold lighting, and the kind of silence that made people believe they were safe from truth.
Adrian Castillo walked in like a man entering a celebration built for him.
Beside him, Chloe clung to his arm, smiling faintly as if she already owned the future. Vanessa followed behind, eyes sharp with pride, while Mrs. Margaret Castillo carried herself like a queen attending the coronation of her dynasty.
“This is the room,” the receptionist said softly. “Dr. Reynolds will be with you shortly.”
Adrian didn’t even sit down.
He checked his phone again.
No message from Elena.
Good. She was already out of his life.
That was what he told himself.
The door opened.
Dr. Reynolds entered with a tablet in his hand, expression professional but distant. He glanced at the group, then at the file.
“Mr. Castillo?” he asked.
“Yes,” Adrian replied immediately. “We’re here for the ultrasound. My heir.”
Chloe smiled at the word.
The doctor didn’t return the smile.
Instead, he gestured toward the room. “Please come inside. We’ll begin.”
The room was dim, the ultrasound screen glowing faintly like a window into a future they had already decided on.
Chloe lay back, hand on her stomach.
Adrian stood beside her, holding her hand—not gently, but possessively.
Vanessa whispered to Margaret, “He finally got what he deserved.”
The probe touched Chloe’s abdomen.
The room filled with static rhythm.
Then silence.
Dr. Reynolds leaned closer.
His expression changed slightly. Not shock. Not confusion.
Concern.
“Doctor?” Chloe asked nervously. “Is everything okay?”
Adrian laughed softly. “Of course it is. Just show us the baby.”
The doctor didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he adjusted the screen.
Zoomed in.
Paused.
Then zoomed again.
And finally—
He spoke.
“There is no viable pregnancy consistent with a 12-week fetal development.”
The room stopped breathing.
Chloe sat up slightly. “What?”
Vanessa frowned. “That’s impossible. We saw the test results.”
Dr. Reynolds turned the screen toward them.
“It appears,” he said carefully, “that what you’re seeing is a hormonal imbalance. There is no embryo present.”
Silence.
Then Adrian laughed again—but this time it cracked.
“What kind of joke is this?”
The doctor didn’t flinch.
“I don’t joke about medical findings.”
Margaret stepped forward sharply. “Check again.”
“I already have.”
Chloe’s face drained of color. “No… no, that can’t be. I took the tests. I—Adrian, I told you—”
Adrian turned to her slowly.
For the first time, his grip loosened.
“What exactly did you tell me?” he asked.
The air tightened.
The doctor looked down at the file again, then added the sentence that shattered everything:
“There is no evidence of a pregnancy. Not now, and not in the previous records provided.”
Vanessa’s chair scraped the floor as she stood up.
“Provided?”
Dr. Reynolds nodded once.
“These documents were inconsistent with our lab system.”
Chloe’s lips trembled. “That’s not true… I was pregnant…”
But her voice was smaller now.
Less certain.
Adrian stepped back.
For the first time in years, he looked lost.
His phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
He opened it.
A single image.
Chloe entering a private clinic two weeks ago—alone.
Then another.
Chloe leaving with a folder marked “fertility treatment denial.”
Then a final line:
“You built your future on a lie.”
Adrian’s hand tightened around the phone until his knuckles turned white.
Behind him, Margaret whispered:
“This is impossible…”
Dr. Reynolds cleared his throat.
“There is something else you should be aware of,” he said.
Adrian looked up sharply.
“What now?”
The doctor hesitated.
Then spoke carefully.
“The financial authorization for this clinic visit… was processed under marital shared assets.”
The room went still again.
“Meaning,” he continued, “this consultation was paid from joint accounts.”
Adrian’s face changed.
Slowly.
As realization crawled in.
Not only had he been lied to—
But he had funded it.
At that exact moment, his phone rang again.
Unknown caller.
He answered.
A calm male voice:
“Mr. Castillo. This is Attorney Dawson.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened. “Who gave you this number?”
“I believe your wife already left the country.”
A pause.
Then:
“And you should probably check your accounts.”
The line went dead.
Adrian turned toward the window.
Far below, the city moved normally.
Cars. People. Life.
May you like
But his world had already started collapsing.
And somewhere in the sky above Barcelona, Elena was no longer the woman he thought he had left behind.
