Chapter 7
VII. The Open House
When Cecília returned to the mansion, the first thing Alexandre did was order all the windows in the old wing to be thrown open.
The curtains were torn down. The moldy furniture removed. The locked room ceased to exist as a prison. By Cecília’s decision, it became a reading room. "I want children here," she said.
Alexandre frowned. "Children?" "Yes. Scholarship students. Children of the staff. Boys and girls from the mountains who need a place to study." "Are you sure, Mother?"
Cecília looked around. "For ten years, this room held silence. Now, it will hold voices."
And so it was done. Months later, the former prison was flooded by the morning sun. There were bookshelves, tables, colorful cushions, children’s books, maps, and the constant scent of fresh paper.
Sofia came to coordinate the project. No longer as a waitress. Alexandre insisted she study business administration on a full scholarship provided by the family foundation. She refused three times. On the fourth, Cecília said: "Accept it, my child. Pride can also be a cage." Sofia accepted.
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The mansion changed. It didn't lose its luxury. But it lost its fear. Servants no longer lowered their eyes in the same way. Doors that were once shut now remained open.
Viktor was convicted. The newspapers exploited the scandal for months, dubbing it "The Dungeon of the Mountains." But to Alexandre, that was never a headline. It was his mother’s life. It was the boy he had been, weeping before a closed casket. It was the voice he had heard too late.
