Chapter 32 The End

• The intense aroma of the room invaded her senses as she opened her eyes. But she didn't recognize the place she was in. Everything was dark and the feeling of discomfort embraced her tightly. Adriana tried to move her hands and feet, but she realized she was tied to the bed. Panic began to take hold of her and a desperate scream escaped from her lips. 'Dante, where are you? Dante!!' Adriana exclaimed between sobs and with a voice filled with fear. At that moment, the figure of a man approached her bed. His hair was no longer dark, but had acquired a grayish tone and his face was marked by the passage of time, although he was still remarkably attractive. 'Why am I here? What happened, Dante? Tell me, my love?' Adriana asked, confused and fearful. tears filled her eyes and a growing sense of hysteria took over her. The man sighed deeply, showing an expression of sadness and doubt. 'I am not "your love," dear. I am your father...' he responded in a weary and mournful tone. Adriana fell silent for a moment, trying to process the information she had just received. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at the man before her, who denied being the love of her life. She looked around, the walls were white, she was tied up, one didn't need to be a genius to notice what was happening there. At that moment, the door opened and a doctor entered the room. He walked calmly and approached Adriana, who was still tied to the bed. 'I'm sorry to inform you that the latest treatment we've performed hasn't been effective, dear. Currently, you live in a constant delusion where you believe your father is your husband Dante, and we haven't been able to reverse your condition...' the doctor said in a calm but sorrowful voice. From the slightly ajar door, the figure of a woman appeared. It was Catalina, Adriana's mother, but her appearance resembled her daughter too much and it wasn't how she remembered her. Adriana looked at her with hopeful and desperate eyes. 'Mom, it's me, Adriana!' she exclaimed, crying inconsolably. 'What am I doing here??? GET ME OUT OF HERE!' she shouted desperately. The doctor approached her side and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. 'She is Adriana, your mother, and you are Catalina. The delusion has confused you, my dear...' Adriana couldn't accept the reality presented before her eyes. She screamed with all her might, feeling the desperation completely consume her, as if she was being swallowed by an abyss. It was complete madness. 'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING, DANTE IS MY HUSBAND, WE HAVE TWO CHILDREN, I'M HIS WIFE ADRIANA!' Dante and the woman accompanying him looked at her with pity and left the room while she repeated the same senseless words. At that moment, a nurse with features similar to Solana's appeared in the room. Carefully, and unable to look away from the attractive girl tied up, she injected Adriana with a substance that plunged her into a deep unconsciousness. Silence returned to the room as the doctor observed the young woman in that bed. Tears had soaked her cheeks. He shook his head sadly because he knew that delusion would take hold of the girl again as soon as she woke up. Fate seemed cruel to the girl, who was trapped in a whirlwind of confusion and distorted perceptions... Dante woke up startled by Adriana's sobs. He saw her startled in bed, tears streaming down her face and an anguished expression, although she still seemed half asleep. Without thinking twice, he approached her and embraced her tightly. "Adriana, wake up, wake up, love," he whispered. And he shook her until she sat up, a sea of tears. "What's wrong, my love? Why are you crying? I couldn't wake you up, you were dreaming," Dante said, concerned. Adriana couldn't hold back and clung even tighter to him. Between sobs, she managed to say, "It was horrible...terrifying," she said, clinging to him as if he was her lifeline. Dante, stroking her hair, tried to calm her down. "My dear, don't worry. You're alright, you're with me... But you're going to London and you'll leave me alone... And I feel so lost and anxious, I don't want you to go," she replied, her voice breaking. "My girl... I won't let anything or anyone separate us. The trip to London is temporary, but our love is stronger than any distance that may come between us. We will always be together. And you know it..." Adriana broke into an even more inconsolable sob. Dante, worried, decided to confess something he had been keeping for a while. So he paused and, with a calm voice, said, "You know, I know you, right? And the truth is, I wasn't going to tell you anything yet, but I've been thinking about this a lot. I know I have to go to London, but I don't want to be apart from you either. That's why, while I was there, and anticipating this, I went to see a house for us. I also found a school for León. I want us to be together too, besides, I know you very well and I know what you want even if you don't always confess it to me. I was just waiting for you to say something about it. I didn't want to overwhelm you, especially with the nanny stuff, you have so much on your plate... I thought you preferred it that way, I was an idiot... I should have noticed that something was wrong and spoken up sooner," he scolded himself. Adriana, surprised and excited, looked into his eyes as she held onto him tightly. "I can't believe it, Dante. You're incredible. You have no idea how much I love you and how much I want to be with you," she admitted, and for the first time in a long time, she felt relieved. "But, since we had Catalina, I've felt so overwhelmed, as if I can't balance being a mother and a wife. Also," her voice broke, "I don't know what's happening to me, but I feel like I need to confess something to you..." she said and thanked heaven that everything with Solana and the psychiatric hospital were nothing more than a bad dream. "Actually, I never did the DNA test to confirm that I'm not your daughter... and if you want, you can hate me for that," she said, avoiding his gaze.
• Dante, still embracing her, responded tenderly, "I know you didn't do the DNA test, but that doesn't matter. You know it very well, and I do too. We are not father and daughter, we are husband and wife. Besides, I think about Catalina, and even though all of this may sound confusing, I remember that our relationship started long before you - or at least that's what he hoped, although he made a decision to never think about it. Catalina and León were your parents, and you are my wife," he asserted with determination. "And that is all that matters," he added. Adriana, with uncertainty in her voice, asked, "But... what if Catalina turns out to be 'crazy' like me? What if she falls in love with you too?" she said, her voice almost a whisper, and Dante chuckled, amused by his wife's thought. "So, I have to succumb to the charm of every woman that comes my way? Even the daughter I changed diapers for and raised? Don't be foolish, my love. You were never my daughter, and I never raised you as such. Our relationship was different, and your 'craziness' is definitely not hereditary... and ours is different and special, unique... it won't be repeated in a thousand more lives," he said, his voice hoarse as he looked into her beautiful eyes intensely. "Stop thinking nonsense... tomorrow, I will cancel the trip. Clearly, a lot is happening to you and you didn't tell me anything, but I can't ignore how much this is affecting you, so I will organize everything for us to go to London together, as a family, for however long is necessary, alright?" The young woman nodded her head as he wiped away her tears with his hands. Finally, she whispered, "You are so wonderful, Dante. I can't imagine my life without you. Thank you for understanding me and loving me so much, just the way I am... sometimes, I feel like I don't deserve you, like I have taken something from life that wasn't meant for me..." she admitted with sorrow. Dante cradled her and whispered softly in her ear, "My love, I promise you that I will always be by your side. Nothing can separate us. Together, we will overcome any obstacle and build a wonderful future, in fact, we have already been doing so... And you, you have captured me forever since the first time you tied me to a bed. I love you, my little Adriana."
• Twenty years later, Rome "When I talked about being afraid for Catalina, and her inheriting my madness, I never imagined this scenario," sighed Adriana as she embraced Dante and wiped away her tears while watching their daughter board the plane that would take her away.