15

The next morning, Aileen's mother received an unexpected visitor at her house. She opened the door very early, and there he was, the man who had broken her heart years ago, her first love, the person she thought she would marry and spend her whole life with. Mr. Mark Warren stood before her, holding two bouquets of flowers in his hands, one for Sofia and another for Aileen.

"Good morning, Sofia. You... look the same," he said.

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or an offense," Sofia replied.

"It's a compliment."

Sofia felt a bit shy and nervous because she was seeing her great love from years ago again. She still hadn't forgotten the problems they had and the way Mark left, leaving them alone and unprotected.

"Can I come in?" Mark asked, feeling nervous as well. He had missed her so much, regretting every day that he had left. Sofia made space for Mark to enter. He looked around the house; the walls were covered in a different color, a lower shade of beige. The living room was different, the pictures had been rearranged. He looked at the photos of Aileen on the wall, from when she was little until she became an adult. She resembled Sofia when she was a teenager. Those pictures brought back so many memories.

"Is Aileen home?" he asked. Sofia hesitated whether to tell him or not because she knew Oliver Price was in her room, sleeping with her. She believed Oliver didn't realize that he climbed in through her window every night as well. But she had no problem with that. Aileen was an adult and didn't need her supervision. Besides, Oliver would soon be her husband, and it would be a bit challenging to explain that to Mark because he had always been a jealous father. However, given the circumstances of his departure, he had no right to have an opinion on Aileen's life.

"She's asleep. You came very early," Sofia replied.

"Sofia, I have so much to tell you," Mark said, sitting on the couch. Sofia approached, crossing her arms, ready to listen to what that wicked man had to say. Sofia wasn't an old woman; she was still young when she fell in love with Mark, and they got together. Sofia was not yet 35, and Mark was around 36. "These twelve years apart were horrible for me. I arrived in London with nothing, seeking a better future, thinking I would save money to come back to you," he explained, "but it didn't happen that way."

Sofia was interested in Mark's story, so she sat in front of him to listen.

"In London, I had the misfortune of encountering Steven. Do you remember him?"

Sofia nodded, recalling that mafia guy who made their lives impossible one day. Steven was Sofia's neighbor when she was a teenager, and he was in love with her, but Sofia wasn't interested. Steven was a guy involved in vices, drugs, and weapons. He was very dangerous. He swore to get revenge on both of them for humiliating him one night in front of everyone when Steven was about to confess his love to Sofia, after she had already chosen Mark.

"Well, I found him, and it didn't go well. He stole my documents, my passport, my identity. Sofia, Steven held me hostage all these years, molded me to be like him, trained me, in a way. He kept me captive, so to speak. I couldn't fight against him and all his men, Sofia. It was horrible; I never thought I would spend so much time like that. Until a year ago, I decided to escape. It was difficult; We had confrontations, and one of us had to die. As you can see, it was Steven who died. That's the only way I could be free.

Sofia felt a knot in her stomach when she heard that. She couldn't believe it, could it be true? She thought. There was no reason not to believe him; she knew perfectly well how Steven had threatened them back then, so she felt some sympathy for Mark.

"I managed to escape and report him. I had to start from scratch, but eleven years had passed, and I didn't have the courage to call you, I couldn't. I thought you hated me, I even thought Aileen hated me for leaving her like that. I didn't want to, Sofi, really. My plans were to be there for a few months and then come back to you. I know our fights were serious, and in those moments, we didn't even want to talk to each other."

Sofia laughed while tears escaped her eyes.

"But I was going to come back, I really wanted to."

Mark was completely sincere; his story was real. Mark had always felt that Sofia was his soulmate, his other half, and he had never, ever thought of abandoning her.

"I suffered every night and every day thinking about you. I tortured myself thinking that you had found someone else," Mark lowered his gaze, feeling bad because maybe she had found someone else. And he didn't want to know. "When I got a job and earned enough, I decided to come back, and that's when I called you."

Sofia noticed marks on his face, neck, and arms. She felt terrible for him because it was evident that he had suffered a lot. Her heart beat with love. Sometimes you can be separated from the person you love for a long time, but when love is true, it remains the same and intact, even stronger.

"No, since you left, Mark, I haven't been with anyone," Sofia confessed.

Mark's excitement grew upon hearing her say that. He wanted to get up and hug her, but he didn't know how she would react. Sofia noticed the gesture, so she was the one who got up and sat on Mark's lap.

"You fool," she said to him before embracing him. Mark cried in her arms; he finally felt complete. He had returned to the love of his life. "You fool," she repeated. "Don't ever leave again every time we have an argument."

"No," he hugged her tighter. "I promise I won't. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you so much." Mark took Sofia's face in his hands and kissed her, the first kiss after years of being apart. Sofia thought it was a dream, like the many dreams she had every night with Mark. She wished not to wake up.

"I missed you so much," Sofia murmured between the kiss. "We have a lot to talk about. Aileen..." They immediately separated, realizing that they had something pending to do, and for a moment, they had completely forgotten about her.

"What is it?" Mark asked.

"It's not necessary, Mom," Aileen's voice made them turn their heads towards the stairs. Aileen had been sitting at the bottom of the stairs for a long time. Her eyes were teary because she had heard everything Mark had said, from beginning to end. She, who had hated him for a while, now realized that her father had been a victim of some mobsters and that's why he couldn't come back to her. "I heard everything you had to say," she looked at Mark. "I agree with my mother, you're a fool."