294 - Ella Carter

294 - Ella Carter
Ella Carter

The promise hung in the air like a silent prayer. Even amidst contained smiles and the unexpected relief brought by Lessie's words, the mood in the car back to the mansion was one of introspection. Laís was especially quiet. Helena, sitting beside her, was still discreetly wiping away tears. And my mother, well, my mother watched everything with the gaze of someone who always sees beyond.

When we arrived, the men had already left for the traditional bachelor night. Gavin had gone with them, hesitant, but he went. Leon left a note on my nightstand.

"I’ll come back sober enough to remember your voice. I love you."

In the Carter mansion's home theater, where our “movie and wine” night would take place, we all settled into the wide sofas. The film had started, but the sound from the screen was merely background noise to what we were experiencing. Each of us carried more than just laughter or memories. We carried the weight of being women who loved deeply and who knew what it was like to lose, if only temporarily, someone they loved more than reason itself.

It was in that comfortable silence, between wine glasses and cushions, that Leon’s grandmother, Carolina, broke the air with her voice:

"This reminds me of one of my trips with my husbands."

Everyone turned to her. Carolina had that rare gift of capturing attention with just a few words. Elegant as always, seated with a folded blanket over her legs and her hair, usually hidden beneath her hijab, now uncovered, visible only to the women of the family. She looked older than time. And yet, her eyes held the liveliness of someone who carried secrets few would dare to bear.

"We were exploring the islands in the Philippines. It was supposed to be our last mission, and from that point on, we would live solely for Mahjub." She laughed when she glanced at her daughter-in-law, Hope. "There was an old rumor about a man, a sorcerer, they called him. They said he had lived for centuries, could stop time, and could read a person’s soul with a single touch."

The room fell into absolute silence. Not even the film's soundtrack mattered anymore.

"The legends came from many cultures," she continued. "Each people had a name for him. Some said he was Lilith’s son. Others claimed he had sold his soul to avoid death until he fulfilled an ancient mission. My husband thought it was all nonsense. But I felt something."

"Felt what?" I asked, hypnotized, remembering what I feel when I think about Lessie.

"A chill, Ella. It wasn’t fear. It was as if something was present. Even if invisible. As if our steps were being watched by something not of this time. And when we got too close to the source of that story, we lost one of our informants."

Helena widened her eyes.

"And did you give up?"

"Yes," Carolina replied with regret. "Sometimes it’s better to leave certain veils where they are. There are forces in this world we don’t understand. And others aren’t meant to be understood, but feared."

"Do you think that man exists?" Fay asked, her wine glass trembling between her fingers.

Carolina took a deep breath.

"I believe there is much more between heaven and earth than our logic allows. And perhaps some of those forces are closer to us than we imagine." She said that while looking at me, as if she knew I was hiding something.

My mind drifted back to that moment with Lessie. To those grayish eyes that turned amber in a blink. To the heat around her and the desperation she carried. I knew she wasn’t running away that day, at least not from Gavin, but maybe from who she really is.

A shiver ran up my spine.

Could her blood be one of those veils?

Could she be more than just a survivor, but a key?

I looked at my mother-in-law, at my mother, who sipped her wine so absorbed in the conversation she didn’t even blink. Just like every woman in that room. We were all united by a feeling we couldn’t name, but that pulsed in our bones: the urgent need to find Lessie.

And not just for Gavin.

But for all of us.

"Tomorrow is my wedding," I said softly, more to myself than to them. "And even if everything changes after that, I promise I’ll bring her back. With or without answers."

Carolina smiled, as if she knew something I didn’t yet.

"Then, my dear, be ready to face what lies behind the veils."

And at that moment, I knew that the wedding would mark more than a new chapter in my life with Leon.

It would mark the beginning of a revelation that would change the fate of everyone who’s part of this vast family.

The sun rose slowly that morning, filtering its first rays through the tall windows of the Carter mansion. The sky, a soft, silent shade of blue, seemed to honor the solemnity of the day.

My wedding.

I never imagined I would wake up with such a heavy weight on my chest.

It was supposed to be a day of joy, of celebration, yet within me coexisted an almost ancestral unease. Something that didn’t stem only from Lessie’s absence or the shadow of what was to come, but from what this day meant, to me, to Leon, to this entire family.

The house was bustling. Helena darted back and forth with the schedule in her hands, Laís was giving orders to the suppliers, and my mother, well, she kept her serene demeanor, the composed posture of someone who’s seen the world collapse and knows it can be rebuilt.

But in my room, between the whisper of dresses, the hiss of hairspray, and the warmth of the women I loved surrounding me, I was finally able to breathe.

Fay was seated on the sofa, stitching a loose detail on my veil, while Charlie worked on the final touches of the hem of my dress, tongue between his teeth, the focused expression of an artist perfecting his masterpiece.

"You’re way too calm," Fay said without looking at me. "That scares me more than if you were freaking out."

I smiled, a little sheepish.

"I’m not calm. Just decided."

Charlie looked at me over the top of his glasses and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? Because the way you’re staring into nothing is giving me chills."

I was about to respond when the bedroom door opened slowly. It was Bear.

He stepped in cautiously, but something in his expression made me straighten my posture. In his arms, he was carrying Lola, my rabbit, who should have been in her pen, not on the lawn.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said, serious. "I found her hopping around outside."

He approached and handed me Lola, whom I kept in my lap. Before I could ask how she got down there, I felt something around her neck. It was a ribbon, carefully tied, and on it a folded piece of paper.

I took the note with trembling hands. The paper was plain, but the handwriting made my heart skip a beat.

It was hers.

Lessie’s words flowed like whispers from a soul that needed to be heard.

"Ella,

I know today is your day. The day everyone’s been waiting for, the day you become part of this family’s history not only as Leon’s wife, but as what you were born to be. A pillar.

I didn’t want to spoil this moment, but I needed you to know. I was here. And yes, I let Lola come back alone because I knew she’d find you.

I still can’t return. It’s not time yet. But it will be soon.

I know Gavin is hurting. I know everyone is. But something is approaching and I need to be ready.

Take care of him.

And thank you for loving me even when I left only silence as an answer.

With love,

Lessie."

I held the paper tightly, trying to contain the emotion threatening to overwhelm me.

Charlie, noticing, stopped what he was doing and stepped closer.

"Was it her?"

I nodded, tears in my eyes.

"She was here…" I said, handing the note over so they could read it.

I had no idea what was happening to her. But it was time Gavin saw for himself that everything we told him was real.

"And she’s coming back," Fay said, kneeling beside me. "She’s coming back, Ella."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I picked up her letter and handed it to Bear.

"Give it to Gavin, but only after the wedding!" I told my soldier.

Lessie was fighting. In her own way. Silently. But she still loved us. She still wanted us close.

"Are you ready?" I heard my mother’s soft voice at the door.

I turned around. She smiled, eyes glistening with tears.

"I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life."

And when I looked at my reflection in the mirror, the dress perfectly fitted, my hair styled the way he liked, and my heart full of everything we had lived through. I knew that nothing in this world could ever pull me away from my husband.

Today, in front of the organization my husband belongs to, I became Ella Carter, the wife, the partner, the guardian, and in the near future, the mother of the future Carter heirs.

And no one would ever take that from me.