Chapter 7: The Seed of Spring
Spring arrived earlier than usual that year.
The magnolia trees lining the driveway of the Castillo estate were in full bloom.
It was a bright, warm morning.
Elena stood before the large mirror in the master bedroom.
Her hand rested gently on her stomach.
Her breath trembled.
Not out of fear.
But from a happiness so overwhelming she thought her heart could not contain it.
She stood there for a long time.
Until Alejandro’s familiar, warm arms enveloped her from behind.
"You're awake early again," he whispered, pressing a soft kiss into her hair.
"I couldn't sleep."
"Why?"
Elena looked at their reflection in the mirror.
A man who was once ready to burn the world down to find her.
And a woman who once thought she would die forever in the dark.
Now, they were standing in the light.
"Alejandro," she began, her voice soft but resonant. "Do you remember when I told you this house took so much from people, so it had to give something back?"
Alejandro nodded.
"I remember."
"It gave us back our peace," she said. "And now... it is about to welcome a new life."
Alejandro frowned slightly.
He looked at her through the mirror.
He blinked, trying to grasp the meaning behind her words.
Then, his gaze slid down to her hand resting on her stomach.
The body of the most ruthless man in the business world suddenly went rigid.
"Elena..." His voice broke. "You mean..."
She turned around.
She looked straight into his eyes, her own sparkling with tears of joy.
"We are having a baby."
All the words in the world became meaningless in that exact moment.
Alejandro didn't say a word.
He dropped to his knees on the soft rug.
He pressed his ear against her stomach.
His large hands—hands that had wielded weapons, that had signed merciless takeover contracts—were now trembling as they embraced his wife's slender waist.
He cried.
For the first time since finding her, Alejandro Castillo sobbed like a child.
A life.
This child would not be born into hatred.
It would not bear the dark, suffocating secrets of the previous generation.
May you like
It would only know love.
And light.
