He pretends to think.
“Still deciding.”
That is true.
Alejandro is not the tragic hidden son anymore. He is not the perfect recovered heir either. He is a man learning how to live in a body that survived betrayal, in a family name that still feels heavy, in a world that praises him for standing without understanding how much strength it takes to rest.
Some days he is angry.
Some days you are.
Some days you fight because he tries to solve problems with money, and you hate how easily money solves problems you suffered through for years.
Some days he withdraws, and you remind him silence is not the same as peace.
But you stay honest.
That becomes your promise.
Not forever.
Not perfect.
Honest.
On your twenty-first birthday, Alejandro takes you back to the old DeVega mansion.
Not inside.
The mansion is empty now, waiting for renovation. Its iron gates are open. The gardens are overgrown. The windows reflect a sunset that makes the whole place look less like a palace and more like a memory losing its power.
You stand beside him on the driveway.
“This place still scares me,” you admit.
He nods.
“Me too.”
“Then why come back?”
He reaches into his coat pocket and takes out a key.
“I bought one thing before the sale closed.”
“What?”
He leads you to the side garden, where an old stone bench sits beneath jacaranda trees.
“This.”
You remember that bench.
You used to sit there for five minutes between chores when nobody was looking. It was the only place in the mansion where you could see the sky without seeing security cameras.
Alejandro knew.
“You told me once this was the only spot where you felt human,” he says.
Your throat tightens.
“I didn’t think you remembered.”
“I remember everything that kept me alive.”
He turns toward you.
“I loved you when I thought love was impossible for someone like me. But I don’t want to love you like a rescue. I don’t want gratitude to confuse us. I don’t want the world saying I saved the maid or the maid saved the heir.”
Your eyes fill.
“What do you want?”
He steps closer, leaning on his cane.
“I want to stand beside you. When I can stand. Sit beside you when I can’t. Fight with you. Learn with you. Build something that doesn’t hide people on the third floor.”
