Two cars pulled up to the shoreline one after the other.
Caitlin stepped out first, Ximena, ncing at her silhouette against the sea, followed silently
They stood together, facing the vast horizon. The sky and sea blended into a hazy gray just like the storm of emotions Inside Ximena.
“Don’t you have anything to say?” Calllin asked, turning to look at her.
Ximena’s expression was sorrowful, conflicted beyond words.
*It must hurt, seeing your own son and yet not being able to call him your own, Caitlin continued softly. She wasn’t mocking her–i anything, her tone was almost like that of a friend’s
“You know everything, don’t you?” Ximena asked, struggling to keep her voice steady.
“Nothing stays hidden forever. What you’re facing now is the consequence of everything you did. Who else can you me?”
“Yes…I can only me myself.”
One wrong step had led to a lifetime of regret. Ximena <b>feared </b>there might never be <b>a </b>path back.
Something struck her. “Did you n this? You told me he was hospitalized, knowing I’de?”
“I knew you couldn’t turn your back on your own son.”
“Does your daughter know about your past?”
Ximena shook her <b>head</b>. “No. I’ve never told her,”
“She’s the result of your indulgence. But Zeke… Zeke was innocent. You destroyed his childhood with your own hands. He grew up <b>in </b><b>a </b>twisted, suffocating world. You and the others made him that way.”
Zeke wasn’t born a monster. He was forced into darkness. Sienna <b>had </b>said it he <b>was </b>a tragic soul.
“No… it wasn’t like that… Ximena murmured through tears, eyes closed in pain. “Dean and I truly loved each other. Before I married Zorro,
he was the only one I ever loved. But Zorro forced the marriage. When I married him… I was already pregnant.”
Caitlin’s eyes widened. “You mean… Zeke is Dean’s son? Not Zorra’s<b>?</b>”
Ximena nodded, tears streaming down her face.
“No wonder Zorro treated him the way he did. He must have known Zeke wasn’t his. That’s why he made Zeke the price of the death.
contract?”
“Yes. He knew I’d submit for the sake of my son
“Dean joined Shadow Moon Pavilion to find you, didn’t he?”
Ximena’s heart clenched. “He did. He became an instructor just to be near me. He wanted to Lake me away. But by then, I was pregnant with Zorro’s child.
“I tried to exin. I begged Dean to leave, but Zorro returned <b>and </b>caught us together. In his rage, he killed Dean… and exiled me from Graystone Manor.”
???
Caitlin <b>was </b>stunned. “Then Zora… Zora is Zorro’s daughter?”
Another painful nod from Ximena.
“You say you loved Dean. Then why did you get involved with Xavian in the US. Why did you do all those things?
“Because Dean was gone. And Xavian… he looked so much like Dean. I transferred my feelings onto him. As for the harm 1 caused him–it was jealousy. I was jealous of your mother.”
*So everything Zeke saw at five years old… it was just the surface. He didn’t know the truth. And the hatred he carries–it’s been fueled by Zorro all these years, hasn’t it?”
“Yes. Zeke hates me to his core. And I… I’ve never had the chance to exin. Even if I did, who would believe mer
*I would,” Caitlin said firmly.
That one sentence broke something inside Ximena. Her sabs deepened.
“Ximena, there never needed to be bad blood between us. It was Zorro, He wanted “Yun’s Aromatic Codex“. That’s why he forced you to do all
those things.
“He killed the man you loved. He used your son to control you. He made you his puppet. Was it worth it?”
Ximena couldn’t respond. She <b>just </b>cried.
“You think the Codex is so <b>easy </b>to obtain? <b>What </b>if you spend your whole life chasing it and never seed? Then what? You’ll never be able to reunite with your son. Was it worth it then?”
Each word Caitlin spoke was like a hammer striking Ximena’s heart.
She knew it Deep down, she knew everything she’d done had been in vain.
“Zeke didn’t tell you something. Maybe Zorro didn’t either.”
“what is it?” Ximena wiped her tears.
“He’s cut ties with Zorro. Completely.”
Ximena froze, stunned. “He… <b>what</b>?”
“He severed their rtionship. For good. So tell me why are you still working for that <b>man</b>?”
Ximena stood in stunned silence.
“You’re a mother, and so am I. I understand your pain. When I found out Patricia was my daughter who’d died at birth, I couldn’t control myself either.
“My desire to bring her back was no different from your need to earn Zeke’s forgiveness.
“Zeke hates you because he doesn’t know the truth. But if it were me, I wouldn’t give up.
“I’d fight. Twice as hard. A hundred times harder. I’d let him went, let him hate me because hate is still connection. It’s better than being forgotten.
“Even if you never restore your bond, at least you’ll have no regrets.
“You abandoned him for so long. You weren’t there as a mother. Can you imagine how that shaped him?
“He may hate you. But what if… deep down, he still longs for the love of a mother?
“He’s turned his back on Zorro. That means, even just a little… he’s closer to you now
“Don’t you want to seize that chance? Don’t you want to hear him call you ‘Mom‘ just once?”
Caitlin’s words pierced Ximena’s heart. She broke down in tears, overwhelmed by the raw truth,
It was Caitlin–her once enemy–who gave her rity
In her lowest moment, the person whoforted her… was Callin
“These things… even my own daughter doesn’t know. I’ve buried it all deep, too afraid to speak of it. I never thought it would be you, of <b>all </b>people, who’dfort me when I was at my worst.
“Thank you. Truly.”
Her voice was full of sincerity, like someone who had finally faced her sins and longed for redemption.
of what you’ve done. Own it.
-If you still want to be a good mother, then stop everything. ept the consequences of “Only then can you look him in the eye and say you never abandoned him. That you never betrayed him.
“And even if you won’t admit it… you you?”
ou know how important Teresa was to him. Ask yourself honestly–was her death really nothing to do with
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