“How?” Caro asked, her voice trembling.
“We go there. We explain. We reconnect.”
But deep down, even she knew.
Some doors do not reopen once they are closed.
Back at the estate, Soma sat alone in a quiet garden.
Everything felt unreal.
The life she had known was gone, replaced by something she never imagined.
Alfred approached slowly.
“I know this is overwhelming,” he said.
She nodded.
“I don’t even know what I feel.”
“That’s fair,” he replied.
Silence settled between them.
Then he spoke again.
“There is no pressure,” he said. “No expectations. You are free to choose your path.”
Soma looked at him.
“For the first time in my life, I actually have a choice.”
“Yes,” he said.
Days later, Felicia and Caro arrived at the estate gate.
They were not allowed in immediately.
They waited.
An hour.
