Chapter 4: Healing Wounds
The first month at the Velasco estate was transformative. Without the constant agony burning his skin, Mateo revealed his true personality. He was a bright, curious baby with his mother’s deep brown eyes and his father’s quiet intensity.
Sofía’s role quickly evolved from nurse to mentor. She refused to let Valeria shrink into the background. When Mateo cried because he was hungry, Sofía didn't feed him; she handed the bottle to Valeria and guided her hands.
"He knows you," Sofía told Valeria one afternoon in the sunlit gardens. "He just forgot what comfort felt like. You are his safe place now."
Slowly, the hollow terror in Valeria’s eyes vanished. She started singing to Mateo, her voice carrying through the marble halls. She bathed him, changed him, and held him without fear.
Nicolás watched this transformation from a distance. He spent most of his days managing his empire, but every evening, he returned to the nursery. He observed how Sofía treated his ex-fiancée—not with the condescension of the wealthy class, but with the practical, fierce loyalty of someone who understood survival.
One evening, as Sofía was reading a medical journal in the library, Nicolás poured two glasses of scotch and placed one on the table beside her.
"You fixed more than just my son," he said, staring into his glass. "You fixed her."
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"She wasn't broken," Sofía replied, turning a page. "She was just made to feel that way by people who wanted her to fail."
Nicolás nodded slowly. For the first time in his life, he was beginning to understand that true power wasn't about controlling people; it was about protecting their right to heal.
