The hallway felt eerily quiet, the usual after-school chatter replaced by a tense silence. Lucía kept a watchful eye on the office door, knowing that every second counted. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of anger towards the situation—how could someone betray the trust of a child so profoundly?

A few minutes later, two uniformed police officers arrived, their presence both a relief and a confirmation of the gravity of the situation. Lucía waved them over, her hand steady as she introduced them to Mariana. “This is Mariana, the girl we called about,” she explained, her voice a mix of urgency and reassurance.