Chapter 4 Open wounds

Night had settled over the mansion, and the warm lights of the living room barely illuminated the empty hallways. Elena found herself back in the study, standing in front of the portrait, deep in thought. The calm in the air was deceptive, as if everything inside was fine when, in reality, it was complete chaos.

Alejandro had left hours before, leaving the house in silence, but the tension was still present. Every corner seemed to whisper her name, every shadow seemed to reflect the image of his face. And although she had managed to move forward, she knew she couldn't escape this place, not while he was near.

A piano began to play in the distance, a soft melody that filtered through the walls of the study, breaking the silence like a caress, like a melody lost in time. It was the same song. The one that had always played during their afternoons together. The one he played to calm her, to reassure her when words weren't enough.

Elena closed her eyes, letting the music envelop her. It was like a blow straight to the heart. That moment, that feeling, it all came back with a vengeance. The garden they used to wander through, the aimless walks, the endless afternoons when they felt invincible. But those afternoons were only memories now, fragments of something that could never be again.

The music stopped suddenly. The stillness that followed was even more painful, almost unbearable. Why had it come back? She wondered if it was worth continuing with all this. All that remained was the memory, and sometimes, that was what hurt the most.

A noise in the hallway broke her out of her trance. She knew it was no coincidence. The same feeling of anticipation she'd had when she'd seen him enter that morning washed over her again. She didn't turn around; she didn't want to. But the door opened slowly, and he walked in.

"I saw you from the hallway," Alejandro's voice was soft, but laden with something else. It was a mixture of pain and searching. He stood there in the doorway, not daring to take another step.

Elena didn't look at him, but her heart was beating wildly, as if he'd reopened a wound she'd tried so hard to close. Why did he always come back to her when she was already on the verge of forgetting?

"Alejandro..." she said, almost in a whisper. She didn't want to speak. She didn't want anything that happened now, anything that was said, to change things. But her words came out on their own, driven by an emotion she couldn't control.

He didn't respond immediately. He just stood there, watching her from the doorway. It was clear he was searching for something. Something he couldn't find, and that even he didn't know if it was possible to find.

The piano played again. But this time, it wasn't soft and delicate. The melody was broken, dragged down by the sadness emanating from its notes. It seemed as if the piano itself mourned what had been, what was no longer. Elena couldn't bear it any longer. She turned sharply, finally facing him.

"Why did you do it, Elena?" Her voice was low, almost as if she were afraid of what he might hear. But still, the words came out. Why did you do it? That was the pain of years, the question that had never been answered. And he had to know now. He had to know.

Elena opened her mouth, but the words caught in her throat. The pain choked her, and tears began to blur her vision.

"I don't know..." Her voice trembled, breaking. And that was when she realized that, in that moment, she could no longer hide anything. The pain lanced through her like an arrow, sharp and piercing. She had tried to remain calm all this time, but her body was exhausted from fighting.

Alejandro approached, taking cautious steps, as if afraid one wrong move would send her running again. Elena wanted to pull away, but her feet wouldn't move. The connection between them was still strong, stronger than she had wanted to accept. And despite the damage, it was still there. "Tell me why..." he insisted, his voice cracking with anguish. Elena could see the pain in his eyes, as clear as her own.

And in that moment, she couldn't avoid it anymore. The truth, that truth she'd been bottling up, the truth that had kept her prisoner for so long, came out. All the suffering, all the confusion. Everything she'd never said.

"Because I loved you, Alejandro," she whispered, almost in a lament. "I loved you so much that I was afraid of losing myself in you. I loved you so much that I didn't know how to escape what I felt. And I was afraid. Afraid that you would destroy me like everything else. I was afraid of being trapped in a love that couldn't be real."

Elena lowered her gaze, unable to hold his. Tears now fell uncontrollably, soaking her cheeks, as anguish gripped her chest. It was as if the full weight of the years had fallen upon her in that instant.

Alejandro said nothing. There were no words that could ease the pain of that revelation.

But what he did next was what she least expected. He moved even closer, and this time, he wasn't afraid. He took her in his arms, gently, without saying anything, without forcing her. He just held her, as if everything that had happened, all the distance between them, could disappear in that simple gesture.

Elena stood there, in his embrace, feeling the world she had tried to build out of walls and broken promises begin to crumble. She had never allowed anyone to hold her like that, not since that day. But now, in his arms, she felt that maybe, just maybe, she could let herself be carried away by something other than fear.

"You left me no choice, Elena," he said, his voice softer now. Elena could hear the pain in his tone, as if he too were crying from within. "You left me without answers."

She pulled away slightly, looking into his eyes, but with a blank stare. She didn't know what to do with what she felt. Everything seemed so close, yet so unreal at the same time.

"I didn't know what to do... I didn't know how to continue," she apologized, trembling, but she couldn't stop. The wound was open, and there was no turning back.

Elena wished the earth would swallow her. She longed to return to the time when everything was simple, when the thought of losing him hadn't destroyed her. But what she was experiencing now, that break in her heart, was the harshest truth of all.

She couldn't run away from him. Not anymore.

Six years ago.

Elena looked out at the garden from the window of the house, as the afternoon shadows lengthened. Alejandro was there, standing before her, waiting for an answer she couldn't give. She couldn't, because her love for him was greater than anything else, but what she felt also terrified her. The fear of losing herself in him, of becoming invisible, had made her run away.

But now, faced with the same question, the wounds she had tried to heal returned, and she couldn't deny what she truly felt.

"I loved you, but I was afraid I wouldn't know how to live without you," Elena whispered those words in her mind, as the ache in her heart continued.