Lily came back the next night.
And the one after that.
Always at seven.
Always climbing into the chair beside him.
Always filling the house with laughter, crooked shoes, forgotten toys, and a warmth Mateo hadn’t realized he was starving for.
And Mateo—
slowly, quietly—
began to live again.
What he didn’t know yet
was that this little girl and her mother were about to change everything—
his heart,
his home,
his future,
and even the empire he believed he controlled.
Because when the past returned to tear down what he had just begun to build,
Mateo would have to choose:
Remain safe in the dark—
or fight for the light that had finally found him.
