Yerma was not surprised, she had guessed that Carlos would come to ask her sooner or later….
There was another person who came to ask her this question even before him, that person was Diego, who came to ask him specifically on his second day in Salamonsa….
When he himself gave him the answer that there was no antidote and that the only way was, that Moya did not leave Salamonsa, Diego’s expression was heavy and weighted, and his whole being was tinged with an unspeakable sadness…
Elsa also returned to Salamonsa on this occasion and told him about the previous plans with Carlos.
Carlos’ deep love is truly touching. He has known for some time that Moya has a “contract” that if she leaves Salamonsa for fifteen years, she will die of poison. …
And, Diego told him that Carlos had already made the decision that if the “contract” with Moya could not be undone and that he would die if the fifteen years were up, he would spend his last days with Moya and not run back to Anlandana, and when Moya left, he followed, even giving his brother the materials for Teladia’s business and assets. Teladia’s business and goods were handed over to his brother with all the materials ready….
Only when she returned to Salamonsa, Moya found out that she had this “vaccine” that restricted her personal freedom, thinking that Carlos did not know about it and that she wanted to leave Salamonsa with him, to spend the rest of her life with him and live well for the sake of her children…..
The only thing that Carlos does not know is that the only way for Moya to get out of the 10 year term is not to leave Salamonsa….
Moya herself had told Moya that since she wanted Carlos to live well so badly, she should not have given him hope once Carlos came to Salamonsa in the first place and should have forcibly turned him down so that he could have a fresh start when he left Salamonsa…..
Moya, who was smiling at the time, shed a tear and said:
-I can’t do it, I can’t resist him, and I can’t bear to hurt him like this….. He won’t start again, I’m the only woman he loves….. I want him to live well, and my last moments must be all for him. I don’t know if a move like mine will make him do as he is told, but I must try with all my might…..
Yerma remembers to this day that she wept and wept disconsolately and never said another word to Moya to change her mind even though she was filled with resentment…..
Yerma slightly tilted her head and looked into Carlos’ expectant eyes, she couldn’t tell the cruel truth….
Now she could also be incredibly sure that Carlos would not and would not leave Salamonsa if he knew that the only way to do so was for Moya not to leave Salamonsa….
Carlos frowned slightly, his heart beating fast….
Yerma’s hesitation shows that she knows the way!
He spoke with some emotion:
-I promise you that after I take Moya, I will continue to have her come back to see you regularly and I can start again in Ode Nation, the closest place to here, so that you can see mother and daughter whenever you want….
She thought that she simply didn’t want Moya to leave Salamonsa….
Yerma’s eyes were red-rimmed and she ducked her head. Yes, of course she didn’t want to see her daughter, whom she had so easily reunited, separated from her again, let alone forever, but seeing Carlos’ expectant look, his eager look to be with Moya, made her heart ache so much….
Carlos’s brow furrowed even more and his tone cooled a few degrees when he saw that she was still not speaking.
-If you don’t tell me, I have other ways of knowing.
Yes, she knows, Carlos has a way to know….
-Carlos…
-Knock knock…
There was a knock on the living room door.
Yerma got up hurriedly to open the door and Carlos stopped, looking at Yerma, not as if he did not want the girl to leave his….
After nodding to Yerma, she approached Carlos with joy in her eyes and excitement in her mouth:
-Mr. Carlos, your promotion has been a success, here are the figures and comments of the last week, and indeed Ciudad Echave is full of “invisible rich” and the economic benefits will be even more outstanding in the next week….
-Diego, tell me honestly, what else are you hiding from me?
Carlos interrupted and looked at Diego with deep eyes full of clarity and coldness.
Diego clutched a folder in one hand and handed it to him, sniffing and pausing….
The only thing he was hiding from Mr. Carlos was that Miss Micaela could not leave Salamonsa and he did not know how to tell Mr. Carlos….
Carlos’ ears were attentive to the sound of the water in the bathroom and he looked at Yerma, but his words were directed to Diego.
-I have recovered my memory, just last night. I trusted you so much, and you kept it from me?
The sharp look in his eyes made Yerma unable to say a word….
Diego was ruthlessly startled, did Mr. Carlos remember the past?
Then he already knew the “contract” that existed in Miss Micaela, and he could no longer hide it, he withdrew his hand and lowered his head, his mouth heavy.
-The only way to live with the ‘pact’ on Miss Micaela, for which there is no antidote, is not to leave Salamonsa.
Carlos’s brain goes blank for a moment….
The only way not to leave Salamonsa…
Diego’s words echoed in Carlos’ mind…
His pupils flickered slightly, his breathing sharpened a couple of times and his heart beat a little faster….
The only antidote to the “fifteen-year pact” is that the girl cannot leave Salamonsa?
I, on the other hand, cannot stay in Salamonsa more than three months….
She has been here for almost a month…
What kind of “pact” is this? What kind of place is this?
In order to be with the girl, what difficulties and dangers it can arrange, but, this life and death separation, this love can’t be kept together….
Yerma had eyes full of pain and spoke slowly:
-Carlos, Elsa sees clearly your love for Moya, and she knows it even better, you and Moya, you are not made for each other, you are Patricia’s son, and very good, none of us want you to do anything stupid for Moya, the reason she will work with your grandfather to make you forget about Moya, is so you can leave everything and not get into the dilemma you are in now, and hopefully both you and Moya can live well and start over….
Carlos’ mind was too confused to worry about Elsa and Victor’s motives now, and he spoke dryly:
-Micaela, do you know anything about this?
Both Yerma and Diego knew he was asking about “this” because she knew she could not leave Salamonsa alone….
Yerma’s heart shrank and she replied:
-Yes, she always thought you didn’t know.
Carlos’ heart aches even more when the girl hides from him, choosing to leave Salamonsa with him despite her own life and death, suffering this pain of leaving him soon, smiling in front of him, imagining a wedding back in Anlandana….
Carlos bowed his head slightly, holding back tears, his voice suppressed.
-Then, let him go on thinking that I don’t know.
The girl hid it from him in the hope that he would not fall into sadness and sorrow for the rest of the time and wanted to spend it happily with him….
Carlos was afraid to ask if there was another way to break the damned “contract”, he had read the investigation report on the Salmantina who had died in the open in Teladia, his own mother, whom he had seen spitting blood, and he was afraid that asking would give him a more definitive answer….
Carlos’s hand pressed against his chest, a little breathlessly….
Yerma wiped away her tears, her heart ached for him and for Moya, and she wished beyond hope that there was an antidote for this “vaccine”, so that these two people who loved each other so much could stay together into old age….
-What are you talking about?
Micaela’s voice sounds at the bathroom door…