CHAPTER 14 — THE CHOICE
A year passed.
Victor was convicted.
The council collapsed.
The illegal Rossi network was dismantled.
The legitimate businesses survived under new leadership.
Estelle became chairwoman of the Rossi Foundation.
Leandro stood beside her—not above her.
Maribel recovered and publicly confessed her role in the child exchange.
She accepted the consequences.
But Estelle asked the court for leniency.
Not because Maribel deserved to escape responsibility.
Because Estelle refused to let revenge become her inheritance.
On the anniversary of the night everything began, Estelle returned to the ballroom.
The silver chain was still there.
She picked it up.
Leandro watched.
"Do you remember this?"
She smiled.
"How could I forget?"
He walked toward her.
"That night, I thought I was choosing between my mother and my wife."
"And now?"
Leandro took the chain from her hands.
"Now I know I was choosing between the man I was raised to be and the man I wanted to become."
Estelle touched his cheek.
"And which one did you choose?"
"You."
She smiled.
"No."
He frowned.
"I chose us."
She kissed him.
Behind them, Maribel watched.
Daphne smiled.
May you like
The ballroom no longer felt like a battlefield.
It felt like home.
