Chapter 20 - An Unwritten Future|
The autumn leaves began to fall across the estate grounds, signaling the arrival of a cold New York winter. But inside the mansion, there was only warmth.
My mother had taken over the estate's greenhouse, filling it with vibrant tropical flowers from the Philippines, while Mateo was enrolled in a prestigious private school in the city, excelling in his classes and making friends.
Every morning, Alexander and I still stood in the training courtyard.
We no longer fought with wooden sticks. We moved together in a quiet, synchronized rhythm—two people who had come from completely different worlds, bound together by a memory, a promise, and something far deeper that was just beginning to grow.
One morning, as we finished our session, Alexander stepped close, reaching out to tuck a stray strand of dark hair behind my ear.
"You look at peace," he said softly.
"I am," I smiled, resting my hand against his chest, feeling the steady, strong rhythm of his heartbeat. "For the first time in my life, I don't feel like I'm running."
"Good," Alexander whispered, leaning down until his forehead rested gently against mine. "Because I'm never letting you go."
A soft chime sounded from my phone resting on a nearby bench. I stepped back, picking it up to see an encrypted text message from an unknown number.
I opened the screen.
It was an image of an old wooden practice stick, identical to my father's, resting on a velvet cloth next to a black wax seal bearing an emblem I had never seen before.
Below the image was a single line of text:
“The Quiet Current does not belong to the Reyes family alone. The Grand Master is waiting for the daughter’s return.”
I stared at the glowing screen, my pulse quickening as Alexander stepped up behind me, looking over my shoulder at the mysterious message.
"Who sent that?" Alexander asked, his gray eyes darkening as his protective instincts flared back to life.
May you like
I looked at the ancient emblem on the screen, then out toward the misty morning mountains, feeling a strange chill run down my spine.
"I don't know," I whispered, holding Alexander's hand tightly. "But it looks like my father had one more secret he never told me about."
