Chapter 14 - A NEW LIFE One year later, the mountain cabin no longer felt temporary.
Luca had taken his first steps beside the fireplace.
Clara planted herbs outside.
Mateo learned how to cook.
Badly.
Very badly.
One evening, Clara laughed as he burned dinner for the third time.
“You ran an empire.”
“I didn't cook.”
“You should have.”
“I'll hire someone.”
“No.”
She pointed at him.
“That's exactly the problem.”
Mateo laughed.
The sound surprised both of them.
He hadn't laughed freely in years.
The old mansion was gone.
The old empire was gone.
And somehow, life was better.
The family trust had been reconstructed under independent supervision.
No one person could control it.
No emergency resolution could override the safeguards.
No family member could simply claim authority because of blood.
Clara became an official co-trustee.
Mateo accepted that she would sometimes disagree with him.
He even learned to enjoy it.
Their arguments were ordinary now.
About money.
Schedules.
Luca's sleep.
What color to paint the nursery.
Ordinary arguments.
May you like
Beautiful arguments.
The kind people who had survived extraordinary things learned to treasure.
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