He hesitated only a moment—then chose honesty.
He told her everything. Elena’s whisper. Jaime’s plan. The twenty minutes. The need to rewrite the scene before it could become something cruel.
Valeria listened without interrupting. When he finished, she looked down at her cup for a long moment.
“And you said yes… without knowing all of that?”
Marco rested his hand lightly on the table.
“You seemed like someone who deserved to walk into a room without someone else deciding your story.”
She looked up.
And in that moment, something small—and enormous—happened. A silent recognition between two people who had known disappointment, and yet hadn’t let it turn them hard.
“Your daughter sounds extraordinary,” Valeria said.
“She is,” Marco replied. “She amazes me every day—and worries me every day too.”
“I think that’s how it works with people we love,” she murmured.
A quiet pause settled between them.
“My mom told me about your ex-wife,” she added gently. “If you’d rather not talk about it, that’s okay.”
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