Recovering the time I’d lost with my daughter wasn’t the only thing I wanted.
I shoved the thought away immediately, the guilt a hard slap.
I didn’t deserve more than what I was being allowed.
***
I had just finished in the mansion’s private gym—my heart still pounding from the workout, sweat cooling on my skin—when my phone buzzed on the counter.
I didn’t recognize the number.
For a moment I considered ignoring it.
Then something—instinct, maybe, or the unconscious desire to outrun my own thoughts—made me answer.
“Hello?”
A short, hesitant silence.
Then a voice I hadn’t expected to hear.
“Enrico? It’s me. Matteo.”
The surprise hit fast.
Matteo was my youngest brother, and the most distant one. Years ago, he’d taken control of his own life and reduced contact with Eloá to the bare minimum. He stayed just present enough that she couldn’t torment him into submission.
Matteo didn’t call.
Not like this.
“Matteo?” I asked cautiously. “Did something happen?”
“Nothing happened.” Another pause—uncomfortable. “Actually… I heard about you and Eloá.” His tone turned sharper. “I heard you finally opened your eyes and cut her off.”
A bitter smile tugged at my mouth as I wiped my face with a towel and walked out onto the balcony, the late afternoon breeze cooling my skin.
“Took me long enough, didn’t it?”
“Only a few years,” Matteo replied dryly—but there was something like empathy in it. “Are you okay?”
I exhaled, my gaze drifting to the garden below where I’d been just minutes ago with Valentina and Clara. Thinking of them brought me an unexpected sense of steadiness.
“I’m better than I thought I’d be,” I admitted. “Eloá didn’t take it well. Especially after I canceled Dreamland.”
Matteo let out a low whistle.
“You actually canceled it?” he said. “I saw the headlines but assumed it was spin.”
“It’s real,” I said. “And the board hated it.”
“I’m sure they did.”
“It cost me my CEO seat,” I added, voice steady. “Most of the board didn’t agree with my… new priorities. Eloá did everything she could to make it worse.”
A beat.
“And was it worth it?” Matteo asked.
