Chapter 42: Chapter 42

- No, I want you to know about it. – Gwyneth smiled, taking her hands and giving them an encouraging squeeze – Because I may have spent six long years living in that hell on earth, Missy, but my story had a happy ending. It happened when I had completely lost hope and was just existing, without any expectation of being happy again. Until, suddenly... He appeared. - She gave an ecstatic smile - I still remember every detail of that day. I was doing some shopping at a street market and then this handsome, kind, and utterly charming man appeared. – she sighed passionately – He was the perfect incarnation of the fairy tale princes I read about as a girl: tall, strong, with golden hair and blue eyes like the sky on a summer day… And then he began talking and asking me a thousand questions. – she laughed again, delighted – It was like he couldn't stay even a few centimeters away from me anymore. But… – her eyes suddenly turned dark – I didn't pay attention to Daniel that day. How could? I always tried to go unnoticed by that monster and still ended up... Hurt. How could I even entertain the idea of having a lover when I knew he could end up killing us both?

- But Daniel, of course, did not give up. Not even when I said I was married. I tried several times to send him away, but... He was so charming... It didn't take long for me to realize that Daniel was the man of my dreams... And, stubborn as ever, he continued to find ways to hang out. the same places I went... Until he found out what I was going through. – She sighed, desolate – And she was completely out of her mind. That night, he followed that monster into the bar and knocked him unconscious. Then he came back to me and asked me to run away with him. God, I was so afraid... - Gwyneth confessed, with a tortured face - I knew what that horrible man was capable of and I inexplicably loved him and didn't want him to get hurt. Yet still... His love had filled me with so much hope for the future... I embraced it. And I ran away with him.

- For a few weeks, I was happier than I had been in my entire life... We hired a lawyer to take care of the long-distance divorce process and Daniel asked me to marry him... - Gwyneth continued, still melancholic - Until ... He found us... That monster... - she sniffled, in a fragile tone of voice - Daniel worked with his father at the time, trying in vain to save the company that Victoria had ruined, so he wasn't home when... That man broke down the door and... He hurt me. Much. Her voice got lower and lower, until it disappeared completely.

- Oh, Gwyneth... - Missy cried, terrified.

- Daniel and Tristan arrived before it could happen... The worst. – she swallowed hard, seeming to be forcing the words out – But I was already unconscious. And when I woke up in the hospital, they told me he had been arrested. For the first time in many years, and even almost dead, I felt relieved, thinking that nightmare would end... But it didn't. – Gwyneth revealed, regretfully – His parents hired several lawyers to sue me, trying to make it look like I caused a situation that led him to lose control and assault me, because I had betrayed him. They even went so far as to say that I was lying about all those terrible years with him, since I had endured them. It was almost as if I should have died at his hand if I truly wanted to prove what a monster he was. - Gwyneth said, with another tear running down her cheek.

- I'm so sorry you had to go through that. – Missy whimpered, hugging her even tighter.

- Me too, honey. Me too. – Gwyneth sniffled, gently stroking her hair, before continuing – After months in court and several witnesses in my favor, he was finally arrested and the court officially granted me a divorce. But I knew it wouldn't last long. His parents had a lot of money and he insisted on threatening us, before being arrested, making it clear that he would finish what he started, when he found me again... - She lowered her eyes, with a somber expression - Until, days later of being put in prison... He was killed. Nobody quite knew how. A riot broke out, and suddenly he was no longer alive. His parents even tried to prove that Daniel and I had something to do with it, but they never succeeded. And when they saw that there was nothing more to be done now that he was dead, they left us alone at last.

- So, finally, I thought I could be happy. – Gwyneth sniffed – I spent a few more long months recovering not only my body, but also my mind and soul. At least enough to start moving forward. The memories of what I lived with him still haunted me, and I felt so guilty that Daniel and Tristan had spent what was left of their fortune on my defense in court... But, as always, the presence of the man I loved it gave me hope and, finally, freed from that monster, I decided that I would start building my big dream: to get married again and start a family. – She gave a sad smile, before continuing – However… More and more months went by and… I couldn't get pregnant. Until we finally went to the doctor and they told me that... Maybe that monster had hurt me too much... And that maybe Daniel and I would never conceive. – Gwyneth lamented, as she wiped away some more tears – It was a terrible blow to me at the time. I felt like that man was still there, managing to destroy my life even after he was dead... And, at that moment, even with Daniel by my side... I went into a deep depression. I knew we could adopt, but... I felt broken, because that monster had succeeded: he had destroyed my dreams. Taken from me the opportunity to bear the child of the only man I've ever loved...

- I had just returned to exist, when, one day, suddenly... I realized that I was throwing up too much. – Gwyneth opened a radiant smile that, if Missy had to use just one word to describe it, it would be hopeful – At first, I couldn't believe it could be true, until, finally, Daniel convinced me to have an exam and... I was pregnant. – she gasped, almost as if she was feeling that wonderful emotion again – My biggest dream… It was coming true. And for nine months, I watched over that little life growing inside of me, because I always knew he would be very special. How could it not be? He had saved me, brought light and joy back into my life… My little Logan. – Gwyneth sighed, her voice choking, this time with pure happiness – The day he has born was one of the happiest of my entire life. Because he brought me hope. Hope that everything would be okay, that I could be happy again, having him and Daniel by my side. And then Diana and Devon arrived and my boy stayed there by my side, always helping me take care of the little brothers and also taking care of me. – Gwyneth laughed, before her expression fell a little – And he continued to save us every day, especially when that horrible accident almost took Daniel away from us and I was… Lost. – she gulped – I tried to be strong for my children, but… I could only think that I would lose my husband, the love of my life… And then, when that risk passed, I constantly lost sleep, thinking about how I would pay his medical bills, how I would feed our children, how I would keep a roof over our heads...

- And then... There was my Logan again. – Gwyneth smiled tearfully – He was just a child, but he dedicated himself to that job of washing dishes with more determination than any adult... And, then, one day, he arrived with that model agency card and said that he could be our big chance. I was so scared… – she admitted, head down – And I was still scared, even after we made sure he was perfectly safe physically. He was just a boy and I feared that glamorous and treacherous world would change him... And he ended up changing. - She sighed, regretfully - But not in the way I imagined. Years went by and he was still the sweet and caring boy I raised, always willing to care and help everyone around him, but... Having to deal with all that responsibility, being so young, took its toll. It was then that I realized that we didn't protect him well enough. He was bitter about the loss of his grandfather, about everything we went through after the accident, about the demands of the agency he built from scratch... And I realized that he had closed off a part of his heart, even from us. Of course he doesn't realize this, but it's the truth. – Gwyneth shook her head, troubled – All these experiences left him so afraid of love and so thirsty for control… That he preferred to close himself in his own world, where there was only work and a family he could protect. He is my son. I know him. I know how good it feels to be independent and in control. – Gwyneth argued, with an annoyed snarl – That's why he likes to take care so much, instead of being taken care of. This prevents him from feeling vulnerable.

- But then, one day, he found you and... You changed him. – Gwyneth took Missy's face between her hands, looking at her almost with gratitude – You destroyed the wall he had built around himself and made him want to open his heart. For the first time in years, I saw him wanting something just for himself, not to grow the agency or to help any of us. I saw him fighting for his own happiness... Even if his stubbornness got in the way a little. – Gwyneth laughed, amused – But, oh, Missy, it was when you gave him Tristan's present back… That I knew you were the right person for him! A woman who would love and care for him like Logan deserves! – Her green eyes sparkled with deep joy – That's why I told you my story, dear. I know what that lying bastard did to you still hurts, but you can still find more happiness than you ever dreamed of. You already make my son so happy... And believe me, he can, and will, make you immensely happy too. – Gwyneth argued, almost desperate – I know that in the past he behaved horribly, running away from the inevitable that way, as if he could stop destiny, but...

- The destiny? – Missy asked, confused with the direction that conversation had taken – What do you mean?

For a few seconds, Gwyneth just stood frozen, as if she'd just realized that she'd said something she shouldn't have. Finally, her expression turned wary, not to say fearful.

-Missy... There was a reason Daniel was so insistent on being by my side after he met me. Which is the same reason why my daughter fell in love with Paul and my son with his sister... - Gwyneth took a deep breath before continuing - Missy... Everything Logan told you about the history of that tapestry... The first Knight, the spell, love at first sight, our family legacy... It's all real. I know you must think I'm going crazy, but please believe me... It's the purest truth. Knights actually have the ability to recognize their soulmates as soon as they look at them. It is an intense and inexplicable connection, as well as totally irresistible... - Logan's mother let another second pass before continuing - That was the reason why Logan's grandfather suffered so much, when he was still alive. He was a very rare case in the family: fate bound him to a terrible woman, with whom he remained in love even after she had ruined him to death. And that made Logan despise the family legacy. Shortly after Tristan's death, he began to think that all this was nothing more than a curse and... He began to fear the day when the same would happen to him. The day he would find his other half, because he was afraid he would end up like Tristan. And he was angry with fate for taking away his right not to fall in love if he didn't want to.

Petrified where she was, Missy could only stare at Gwyneth, barely remembering how to blink. In the first second, she thought it was a joke, or a metaphor that she didn't understand. But then, suddenly, some things she had never understood came back to her mind: Devon's sudden, unquestioning love for his sister, which had dawned in just one day... The feverish, incomparable glow of passion that only Knights were. capable of throwing to their partners... The way Logan's expression seemed to contain a dose of awe and mockery when he told him that legend about the first Knight and his wife...

- Is that... Is that really true? Missy asked, choking on her own incredulous words.

- Yes, honey, it is. – Gwyneth replied solemnly, stroking her shoulders as if she wanted to console her – I know it seems impossible, but… In fact it is the strangest magic of all. And also the most extraordinary. – She opened a radiant smile – Since they were born, I always knew that my children were destined for love, just like all the Knights before them. I know Logan may think this is a curse, but for me, it's a blessing: more than anyone else, I know how life-changing love can be, and that's what I've always wanted for them.

-So, Logan… – Missy swallowed hard, devastated by what she had just realized – Will he ever fall in love forever? Someday the legacy will catch up with him and...

Logan would feel that deep, undying love for someone...

Someone who wasn't her.

If it hadn't been for Gwyneth's hands on her shoulders, she felt she might have fallen to her knees right there, shattered.

- I think... - Gwyneth mumbled awkwardly, probably interpreting her desolation as a product of shock - that I've said more than I should. Only Logan has the right to speak about his own heart.

Feeling tears sting her eyes, Missy tried to compose herself. Deep down, she had always known that. That revelation was just proof that Logan wasn't meant for her. He never had been. They might be friends and have a special connection right now, but eventually, he would find the right woman. Your soul mate. A person that fate's own magic had chosen for him. How could she have been deluded enough to think she had a chance in the midst of it all?

Of course there would be no happy ending for her.

-Missy, I ... - At the sound of Logan's voice, the two turned to him, facing the worried expression that took over him as soon as she saw them - What happened? he questioned, darting his eyes between the two.

- Nothing. Missy sniffled, struggling to hide the pain of her breaking heart. She didn't want to cry in front of him. After all, he hadn't done anything wrong. Not being able to return her love was not a crime. And the last thing she wanted was for him to feel guilty.

- It doesn't seem like it was anything. Logan narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he approached the two.

- II was just saying again to Gwyneth how much I love attending these family events. That's all, I promise. – she tried to convince him, even knowing she wasn't succeeding – About… What did you come to talk about?

Remaining silent, Logan ran her up and down with his fierce eyes, clearly knowing something was wrong. However, she saw him also shift his eyes quickly in Gwyneth's direction, before giving a discreet sigh, almost as if he knew she couldn't figure out what had happened until they were alone.

- Ellie and Diana discovered that tonight there will be a shower of shooting stars. – He said, although his expression remained nothing but fearful and worried – It will be in a few hours and, apparently, it will be better seen from high and distant places. So they thought that maybe the two of us could go up to my terrace and watch...

- Oh, what a wonderful idea! – Gwyneth exclaimed, before he could even finish, turning to Missy with a huge smile – Isn't it perfect, dear?

- Would you like to come with me, Missy? Logan asked slowly, clearly alarmed by the pained expression on Missy's face.

For a moment, she thought about refusing. Why go on with it, if they were fated to part and she to suffer? Maybe it was better to get it all over with and start taking your time to pick up each of the tiny shards of your passionate heart. A time that would be terribly long, she knew very well. Especially knowing they were family, and the day Logan found his soul mate, she would have to be there to congratulate them and watch them be happy, for the rest of her life.

However, as heartbreaking as that prospect was, looking at his face at that moment... She couldn't deny it. She couldn't say no to one more night. For another unforgettable moment of joy. For one more chance to have you by her side. If she was really destined to have her heart broken, then she would seize the night.

Even if she had to wake up with a hole in her chest the next day.

- Yes. – she tried to smile, determined to enjoy the last moments she still had with the man she loved – Of course I want to go with you.

- Perfect! – Gwyneth celebrated, in pure delight – I don't know why… But something tells me it's going to be a magical night.