Chapter 8 - The Truth About The Roses
Elsa survived.
Barely.
The bullets had missed her heart by inches.
She spent twelve days in intensive care.
Ronaldo sat beside her every night.
He talked.
He read.
He brought terrible coffee.
She complained about it when she woke.
"You're still making it wrong."
He smiled.
"You were unconscious for twelve days and that's your first complaint?"
"Priorities."
He laughed.
It was the first real laugh anyone had heard from him in years.
Sal stood in the doorway.
"I've never seen you like this."
Ronaldo looked at Elsa.
"I've never been like this."
When she was finally strong enough to speak for longer than a minute, she told him the full truth.
Two years earlier, she had discovered a hidden account.
Money had been moving through the company.
She followed it.
It led to Isabella.
Isabella threatened Elsa's sister.
Elsa agreed to disappear.
But she didn't disappear blindly.
She went undercover.
She spent two years collecting evidence.
She tracked Matteo.
She found Lena.
She found the original books.
And she learned that Ronaldo had been manipulated by everyone around him.
"The roses," Ronaldo said.
She smiled faintly.
"What about them?"
"Your message."
She looked confused.
"I said I was sorry about the roses."
"Why?"
"Because I knew you'd notice."
He frowned.
"What?"
"You sent flowers to my apartment every Friday."
"I thought you didn't know."
"I did."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I liked them."
His throat tightened.
"Elsa."
She laughed softly.
"The first time I realized you cared, you sent white roses after my sister got sick."
"I didn't know you knew."
"You always thought you hid everything."
He smiled.
"I wasn't very good at hiding from you."
"No."
She reached for his hand.
"Never."
A week later, Ronaldo took her home.
Not his mansion.
Her apartment.
The same one in Pilsen.
He had expected poverty.
Instead he found warm light.
Books.
Plants.
A small kitchen.
A sewing machine.
A photograph of her sister.
"Why did you keep this place?"
"I thought I'd come back."
He looked at her.
"You knew?"
"Somewhere inside."
She walked to the kitchen.
There was a white ceramic vase.
He recognized it.
The roses had always stood there.
His chest tightened.
"I thought I was sending them to a woman who didn't want to see me."
She turned.
"You were."
"And now?"
She smiled.
"Now I want you to stay."
He crossed the room.
"I can do that."
They kissed.
Later that night, Ronaldo found a letter in her desk.
His name was on it.
He opened it.
I wanted to tell you before I left.
I loved you before I understood what it meant.
I hated that I had to disappear.
But disappearing was easier than watching you die.
He read the final line.
If I ever come back, I hope I'm brave enough to ask you for a life instead of a job.
He looked at Elsa.
She stood in the doorway.
"You weren't supposed to read that."
"I'm glad I did."
She smiled.
"Then you know."
"Know what?"
"I don't want to be your secretary."
He stepped toward her.
"Good."
"What am I, then?"
"My wife."
She stared.
He dropped to one knee.
"Elsa Bennett, I spent two years believing the world had taken you from me."
He held out a ring.
"I refuse to spend one more day pretending you're only part of my life."
She covered her mouth.
"Ronaldo..."
"I don't have a perfect past."
"Neither do I."
"I don't have a normal family."
"Neither do I."
He smiled.
"But I have a future."
She began to cry.
"Will you be in it?"
She nodded.
"Yes."
He slipped the ring onto her finger.
Then she pulled him up and kissed him.
May you like
Outside, snow began to fall over Chicago.
For the first time, neither of them ran.
