One afternoon, nearly three months later, something unexpected happened.
A black car stopped near the market where Isabella often searched for food.
Two well-dressed adults stepped out.
A man and a woman.
They were speaking urgently with several shopkeepers.
Isabella kept her head down.
Rich people usually meant trouble.
But then she heard the woman say something that made her freeze.
“Three babies,” the woman said anxiously. “Identical triplets.”
The man beside her held up a photograph.
“Have you seen them anywhere?”
Isabella’s heart began pounding.
She glanced carefully toward them.
The photograph showed three tiny infants wrapped in white blankets.
The same blankets she had found in the basket.
The woman’s eyes were red, as if she had cried for days.
“We’ve searched the entire city,” she said.
“They were taken months ago.”
Taken?
Isabella’s mind spun.
The babies hadn’t been abandoned.
They had been stolen.
The man lowered his voice.
“They’re the grandchildren of Alejandro Valdez,” he said.
Several shopkeepers gasped.
Even Isabella had heard that name.
Alejandro Valdez was the wealthiest businessman in Santa Esperanza.
The babies weren’t just missing children.
They were heirs to one of the richest families in the country.
Isabella looked down at the small basket beside her.
Lucas yawned.
Mateo sucked on his blanket.
Sofia blinked up at Isabella with quiet trust.
Her chest tightened painfully.
If she said nothing… the babies would stay with her.
But they deserved more than cold nights and stale bread.
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