CHAPTER 4 — Learning to Breathe Again
The mansion was quiet again.
But not the same.
Elena sat by the window, sunlight touching her face like something unfamiliar.
Alejandro stood a few steps away, unsure.
“I don’t know how to be… me again,” she admitted.
“You don’t have to rush,” he said gently. “We’ll take it one day at a time.”
She looked at her hands.
“They used to belong to me.”
He stepped closer—but slowly this time.
“Do they still feel like they belong to you?”
Elena hesitated.
Then, for the first time—
She reached out.
And took his hand.
“Maybe,” she whispered.
Outside, the gates of the mansion opened.
May you like
Not as a prison anymore.
But as a home.
