Chapter 221 — The Voice That Crossed the OceanAyden had gone to the bathroom just to wash his face…and to pull himself together.He felt that if he stayed one more minute watching Elián dance with Martina, with that kind of love filling the air with every turn, he was going to break down again.He closed the bathroom door, leaned back against the wall, and slipped one hand into his pocket.He took out his phone.Then he opened the chat with his grandfather.And without thinking too much, he recorded a voice message.Voice Message — Ayden Castell to Grandpa Fabián1:14 min“Grandpa… I don’t even know how to explain this to you. But… the best thing that has ever happened to me is happening right here in Spain. In Madrid.Mili.I think… I think she’s about to give me a chance.I swear I don’t want to ruin anything, Grandpa. I’m doing things right, just like you told me to.I haven’t had a single drink. I’m following the contract to the letter, I promise.And… Grandpa…she hugged me.Fo

CHAPTER 223 — Between Nerves, Glances… and Family TiesMartina’s house was filled with the kind of life no one could fake.A life that cried, laughed, called for diapers from another room, and smelled like coffee mixed with baby soap, clean clothes folded in a hurry, and nerves quietly vibrating in the air.Liam cried in a soft but determined little voice, as if he already knew the world answered every time he called. Olivia, Martina’s paternal grandmother, moved from room to room with an energy that defied her age, carrying bottles, fixing blankets, and smiling as if that tiny little boy truly was the center of the universe.And in the middle of it all…there was Ayden.With the baby in his arms.He held that warm little body with the same clumsy care someone uses when holding something precious, watching Elián as if every movement were a secret lesson no adult manual could ever teach.“Like this?” Ayden asked, lifting the diaper slightly, as if it were an important document he didn

CHAPTER 225 — Fearless, for the First Time“Ayden…” she whispered.And although her voice was soft, the question she carried inside her weighed more than everything they had kept silent for years.He turned his head slightly toward her and answered with the tired honesty of someone who no longer wanted to pretend he was brave.“Yes?”Milagros swallowed hard.“Dad…” she said slowly. “Did my dad hit you?”Ayden didn’t answer right away.He closed his eyes for a second, as if searching for the gentlest way to tell the truth without hurting her. When he looked at her again, he smiled with a small, honest sadness.“No, Mili… he didn’t touch me.”She looked at him, not entirely convinced.She had always had that intuition with him, that ability to sense when Ayden was trying to protect her from something.“Are you sure?”“I’m sure,” he replied calmly.No raised voice.No defensiveness.No pretending.Milagros took a deep breath, but she still didn’t relax.She turned onto her side and looke

CHAPTER 227 — Dawn in Your Arms Morning slipped into the room without asking permission, filtering through the open curtains like a timid light that seemed to respect the silence of that bed, as if it didn’t know—or didn’t dare to know—that this space no longer belonged to yesterday’s world. Something had happened there that neither light nor time could erase. There was skin that still remembered the other’s shape, and silence that still vibrated with promises never spoken aloud, but deeply felt. Milagros opened her eyes slowly, with that strange sensation of returning to her own body and discovering that it was no longer exactly the same. Because it had been touched without fear. Because it had been chosen without retreat. Because for the first time in years, she wasn’t waking up with her chest tight from an uneasiness she couldn’t name, but with a certainty that didn’t shout, yet made itself known softly, warmly, undeniably. Ayden slept on his stomach, one arm stretched toward her

Chapter 229 — The Night That No Longer Had RulesMilagros closed the hotel room door behind them with unsteady hands, still intoxicated by everything she had lived that day—the hugs, the music, her sister’s wedding… but above all, by that new and unfamiliar feeling in her chest.Belonging.That gentle yet overwhelming certainty of knowing she had finally come home without ever leaving her place.Ayden said nothing.Not because he had no words, but because he felt that any sound might shatter something sacred. He simply looked into her eyes and saw how tired she was, how radiant, how that sparkle in her gaze still seemed to carry the music of the wedding beneath her skin.He looked at her with desire.With longing.With a hunger not only for her skin, but for the truth between them.Still, he didn’t want to make the first move.He was afraid she would pull away.Afraid of taking advantage of what he had only just begun to earn.Afraid of ruining, in a moment of impatience, something he