Page 49

We walk hand in hand, in silence, to the spot where his family's grave is located. That was just another one of the lies his uncle told him in an alleged attempt to make him strong.

To me, this Ingvar is no better than Leandros. What kind of person knowingly destroys a son's love for and faith in his mother in the name of revenge? The damage he did to my husband's emotions may still take a long time to heal.

Odin told me that every year, on the anniversary of their deaths, he would remember his family's pain.

Despite this, we only found out that they had actually been buried when Odin decided to finish reading the letter that Ingvar left him.

Today, I hope that my husband can finally feel peace.

I know I'm his world, but he still has moments of introspection. I think Odin spent too much time keeping everything to himself, so it's not easy for him to learn how to share.

On the same day that we decided our future, he told me his story without hiding any details. At first, he tried to spare me because of the pregnancy, but I've learned a lot about myself during the last year. The main thing is that I am not a fragile flower.

He recalled what his childhood had been like before evil struck him. He shared the dreams of a boy who wanted to be an astronaut and who had loving parents—despite having few resources for themselves and their children. Parents who gave him and his little sister everything that my brothers and I never had: affection, attention, and hugs.

And then he told me his nightmare.

Talked about how Leandros had burned down the house with all of his family inside. He had barely escaped.

With each narrated fact, a confusion of feelings invaded me. Anger, revulsion, pain, but mainly an immense love for the man I chose to be my companion.

“It's weird to accept that I love her.”

I hug him around the waist, letting my head rest on his chest. “Accept?”

“Yes. I don't think I ever stopped loving her, you know? I just couldn't forgive what I thought she had done. And then I found out she was innocent and blamed myself.”

“You can't blame yourself. You were just a little boy, and you were tricked.”

He nods. “Thanks for coming with me. I thought I could do this by myself, but now I'm not so sure.”

“I came so our children could meet their family.”

As I expected, he smiles and places his huge hand over my dress.

We found out that I'm pregnant with twins. Apparently this is common in the Lykaios family, as Zoe has given birth to two little boys as well.

“Yes, our children came to meet the family.” He kisses my forehead and continues, “But I don't have anything of them to show the kids in the future, other than the photographs Ingvar left me.”

“You're good at telling stories. I already felt connected to you, but I think it was those nights in your apartment's library that sealed my fate.”

After placing the flowers on the graves, we walk back to the car .

“Each time you read to me, unlocking a world I could only imagine because I couldn't understand every word, I fell a little more in love.”

“It wasn’t the sex capable of reversing the Earth's rotation, then?”

I sigh in relief that he's joking again and promise myself I’ll work on making him smile more often. My husband is still so young, but he's had more tragedies than reasons to smile so far.

“Oh yes. How could I have forgotten our hot, sweaty sex?”

Before we get into the car, he leans me against the door, holding me in his arms, then bending down to kiss me. “I love you, my Elina. I live for you.”

“I love you, my husband, and I can't wait to fill our house with lots of children. To fill it with our love.”