AUTHOR'S P.O.V
The atmosphere in the Lanchester Mansion was serene and joyous as they chatted happily without a care in the world.
Valerie watched as the people she loved chatted away. She would never forget this day. She laughed quietly at Stephan who seemed like the third wheel as he watched Acio and Skye having one of their petty quarrels.
She turned to Abuelita and Raquel who laughed as they reminisced about the past. Her attention strayed to Reed, who like her watched everyone with love and amusement.
Her husband.
Her heart fluttered. She unconsciously rubbed the gold band on her finger. She looked at the ring. She was surprised to notice words engraved on it. She looked closely and gasped quietly.
Tu felicidad es mía.
Her heart lurched as she stared at the words written in Spanish. Your happiness is mine. Oh, Reed. She blinked back the tears as she stared at him.
As if sensing her gaze, his eyes snapped to hers. He smiled at her and Valerie's stomach flipped. He was so handsome and he was her husband.
“I want to show you something.” He said. She nodded. Before she could get up from her seat, he was already beside her, taking her hand and leading her away from the dining room.
Valerie watched him curiously, wondering where he was taking her. He said nothing. Instead, they grinded to a halt in front of a door. Puzzled,she followed after him when he stepped inside the room, closing the door after her.
It was his study. His study was spacious with an imposing walnut desk that housed a computer and neatly arranged stack of papers at the back of the room. Leather sofas and an armchair surrounded a round walnut table in the centre of the room. On the entire left-hand side of the room lined a dark walnut bookcase. There was a large fireplace and mantle on the far wall, a television on a shelf to its right and a bookshelf atop a matching file cabinet to its left. On the mantle sat a painting of Raquel and a man with similar features as Reed, probably his father. Everything in the room was lavish.
Did he want to show her something in his study? She turned around to face him then she spotted it. Her eyes widened in surprise as she gasped. She stared, transfixed, at the painting that hung on the wall farther away from the door.
The woman in the picture could have passed as her but it wasn't. The hair, the eyes and complexion was not hers. The woman in the painting was her mom.
The painting was of her mom, carrying a mini version of herself in her laps. It looked so real and beautiful that tears pooled in her eyes, the familiar ache in her chest present.
She moved closer to the painting, her hand outstretched to touch it. She hesitated.
“Touch it, Val. Touch it.” Reed's hypnotic voice sounded close to her ear as he'd moved to stand behind her.
She did. She grazed her fingers against the painting, feeling it. She didn't stop the tears that coursed down her cheeks.
She felt so many varying emotions at once. Fear, anger, happiness and a deep sense of sorrow but strangely she felt at peace.
