//CLARA//
The days after the proposal were quieter.
Felipe and I had settled into something that felt almost like real friendship, not the strained performance of the first week. He didn't look at me like he was waiting for me to change my mind.
He just… was.
And somehow, that made everything easier.
We visited an orphanage together. Aunt Cornelia insisted, of course. She was still angling for a public display of affection, something the papers could capture. But Felipe turned it into something genuine. He asked questions. He listened. He knelt in the dirt to speak to a child who was too scared to meet his eyes.
I just watched him and felt something loosen in my chest.
This could have been my life, I thought. Kindness. Sunlight. A man who kneels in the dirt for no reason other than to make a child feel seen.
I didn't regret my choice. But for a moment, I let myself wonder.
We toured New York like tourists.
