Chapter 6 - The Promise on the Napkin
The criminal investigation expanded beyond Arturo and Helena.
Former executives confessed to destroying records. German officials confirmed that the death certificate shown to Gabriel had been fabricated. A retired hospital administrator admitted accepting money to alter Elena’s birth documents.
The German hotel acquisition collapsed.
Ferrer Group lost millions.
Gabriel did not attempt to revive it.
Instead, he sold the Lavapiés luxury-development project to the city for affordable housing at no profit. Every eviction was canceled, and tenants received long-term leases.
At the announcement, a board member confronted him.
“You’ve sacrificed a fortune.”
Gabriel replied, “No. I stopped taking one from people who could not afford to lose it.”
Lucía returned home after three weeks in the clinic.
Gabriel arrived at the apartment with flowers.
Elena opened the door.
“No security?”
“They’re downstairs.”
“No expensive gifts?”
“The flowers cost twelve euros.”
She examined them.
“You kept the receipt?”
He held it up.
Elena almost smiled.
Inside, Lucía sat near the window, directing Valentina as she prepared chocolate filling.
“You’re using too much rosemary,” Gabriel said.
Lucía looked up.
“You said the same thing thirty-two years ago.”
“And I was right.”
“You ate half the batch.”
“That was quality control.”
Valentina handed him a spoon.
“Prove it.”
He tasted the mixture.
Lucía watched his face.
“Well?”
“It’s terrible.”
Valentina gasped.
Gabriel took another spoonful.
“We’ll have to make a hundred.”
Lucía laughed.
The sound filled the small apartment.
Later, Elena found Gabriel washing dishes.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“You cooked.”
“My mother cooked.”
“Then I owe her.”
Elena leaned against the counter.
“The police said the man who took Valentina worked for Helena’s lawyer.”
“I heard.”
“She knew about it?”
“They’re still investigating.”
“Do you want revenge?”
Gabriel dried his hands.
“For years, I would have said yes.”
“And now?”
“I want the truth recorded. I want them unable to do this to anyone again.”
“That sounds like a careful answer.”
“It is. Anger makes me sound too much like my father.”
Elena studied him.
“You’re afraid of becoming him.”
“Every day.”
“You’re not him.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“You barely know me.”
“I know you went into that warehouse.”
“I had no choice.”
“There’s always a choice. My grandfather chose his name over his son. You chose my daughter over yourself.”
Gabriel’s eyes filled.
“Does that mean—”
“It means you may pick Valentina up from school again.”
He smiled.
“That’s more than I expected.”
“Do not be late.”
“I’ll be early.”
“Not suspiciously early.”
“I’ll try.”
In the living room, Lucía opened the old metal box.
She handed Gabriel the napkin bearing their promise.
“I thought about throwing it away a thousand times.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because some part of me needed proof that the life I remembered had been real.”
“It was real.”
“It ended.”
“No. It was interrupted.”
Lucía met his eyes.
“We aren’t twenty anymore.”
“I noticed.”
“I have a heart condition.”
“I have a terrible back.”
She laughed.
“You built an empire.”
“You built a family.”
“You cannot expect us to become what we might have been.”
“I don’t.”
“What do you expect?”
Gabriel placed the napkin between them.
“A chance to discover what we can still become.”
Lucía touched the faded handwriting.
“The house we dreamed of is gone.”
“Then we don’t rebuild the old dream.”
“What do we do?”
“We create a new one.”
Valentina entered carrying her drawing of the chocolate shop.
“I already designed it.”
Lucía examined the picture.
“The Almond Branch?”
“It needs a kitchen,” Gabriel said.
“And tables,” Elena added from the doorway.
Valentina smiled.
“So we’re doing it?”
Elena looked at her mother.
Lucía looked at Gabriel.
“No grand opening with politicians,” Lucía said.
“No politicians.”
“No luxury prices.”
“Agreed.”
“No turning it into one of your corporations.”
“It belongs to the four of us.”
Elena corrected him.
“It belongs to Valentina and Grandma.”
Gabriel nodded.
“I’ll work for chocolate.”
“You’ll begin by cleaning trays,” Lucía said.
Gabriel extended his hand.
“Do we have an agreement?”
Lucía looked at it for a long moment.
May you like
Then she placed her hand in his.
“We have a beginning.”
