For her.
The investigation against Tomás continued. Some civil matters had been settled. Others remained.
César had accepted responsibility and was cooperating with the authorities. His relationship with Lucía remained difficult, but it was no longer based on financial secrets.
Lucía had left Salvatierra and was working at a corporate governance consultancy.
—The irony of life—he told Elena the last time they saw each other—. Now I get paid to tell companies not to do what my family did.
Diego had also changed jobs.
He never held another executive position in the group.
He joined a small hotel company in Valencia, with a lower salary and no last name on the door.
Elena and he did not get divorced.
Nor did they pretend that one year was enough to repair what had happened.
They lived separately.
They could see each other.
They were going to couples therapy.
For a few weeks it seemed possible to rebuild something.
Others do not.
For the first time, no one was demanding a quick conclusion.
At noon, Diego arrived at the palace.
He wasn’t wearing a suit.
Blue shirt, simple jacket, tired expression.
-Hello.
-Hello.
Marta looked at them.
—I’m going to get coffee. Very far away.
He left.
Diego looked around the room.
—I didn’t expect to return.
-Me neither.
—Did you bring the frame?
Elena shook her head.
—No.
Diego seemed surprised.
—I thought you would keep it forever.
—Lo preserved.
—What does that mean?
Elena smiled.
—Ven.
After the meeting, they drove together to Madrid.
Julian’s former studio had become a small architectural archive. Elena had donated some of his plans to a university and kept her personal belongings in a private room.
The frame was on a table.
But he had changed.
The panel remained white.
The center was empty.
Diego approached.
—Where is the red square?
Elena opened a drawer.
Inside was a small transparent box.
The red fragment rested inside.
—I separated him.
-Because?
Elena took the piece between her fingers.
—For months I thought this was the truth.
Diego watched her.
—It was a clue.
—Exactly. A clue. Not a truth.
He left the square on the table.
—The truth was in the files, the signatures, the testimonies, the things my father did right and the things he did wrong. What yours did. What Tomás did. What you did. What I did.
Diego lowered his eyes.
—What did you do?
Elena breathed a sigh of relief.
—I married you knowing that I didn’t trust you.
He looked up.
—Elena…
“I’m not saying it’s equivalent. It’s not. But I also chose a public scene because I wanted everyone to see my pain. I wanted to force you to react in front of them.”
—You had a right to be furious.
—Yes. But I want to learn to distinguish between having the right to feel something and doing anything with that feeling.
Diego nodded slowly.
—That sounds like therapy.
—Blame Carmen.
They both smiled.
Elena put the square back inside the box.
—I like the empty frame better.
-Because?
—Because I no longer need a symbol to scare them to know what happened.
Diego remained silent.
Then he took something out of his pocket.
It was her wedding ring.
Elena looked at her own hand.
She still kept hers too, although she didn’t wear it.
“I don’t want to pressure you,” Diego said. “I just wanted to show you that I haven’t thrown it away.”
Elena opened another drawer and took out her ring.
He placed it next to Diego’s on the table.
Two separate circles.
—Me neither.
Diego smiled sadly.
—Does that mean anything?
—It means exactly what you see.
He let out a soft laugh.
—I’ve learned not to invent explanations.
—Good progress.
They sat down.
They talked about small things.
Elena’s work in Valdemora.
Diego’s new life.
Lucia.
Martha.
Even Tomás, although his name still made the air tense.
As evening fell, Diego asked:
—If we could go back to that room, what would you do differently?
Elena thought about the selfie.
At the dance.
In the tear.
On the microphone.
In the silence of two hundred people.
—I would ask you to come out into the hallway with me.
-And then?
—I would show you the frame.
—And what if I lied to you again?
Elena looked at him.
—Then I would go into the room alone and tell the truth.
Diego accepted the answer.
-Fair.
Elena took the empty frame and placed it on a shelf.
He placed the box with the red square underneath.
Separated.
The symbol no longer occupied the center.
That night, before Diego left, he stopped at the studio door.
—Elena.
-Yeah?
—I don’t know if we’ll be back.
She understood what he meant.
No to the study.
To marriage.
