It's been barely five minutes when the doors at the other side of the glass open, and escorted by two guards comes Laura, her hair tied in a ponytail at the back of her neck, just wearing her prison overall that does't suit her at all. The glamour and enchanting aura that was her trade mark before is gone and she looks dull, opaque. She also looks miserable, hopeless and contrary to what I expected, no, that doesn't give me as much satisfaction as I was hoping for. Yet, the little bit of sympathy I feel when I see her disappears the moment our eyes meet and I only see venom in hers. She grimaces, showing her teeth and stopping on her tracks, reluctant to sit in front of me.

I've come to see Laura after three weeks since the trial took place, because I felt like I needed to truly persuade myself it was really over. Sometimes I would still wake up, unsure whether I dreamed it or not. Whoever is nearby at that moment, whether Will or Nora when I stay overnight at the office, has to reassure me it did happen and Laura is indeed in prison.

It's still hard to believe and it feels odd that it ended, so easily. No, I don't mean it was easy to get to that point because it took patience, hard work and a lot of planning and preparation, but it ended with a word. The judge said, 'guilty' and it was over, and somehow that felt so anticlimactic.

You know like when you expect a huge battle at the end of the movie, with blood and screams and slow motion? Something epic after so much struggle and all the build up? I guess I expected something like that but it ended over a small word, one that carried more power than any weapon. Still, I felt unbalanced after it, and needed to see Laura with my own eyes to believe it.

That's what brought me to this moment, to see Laura glaring at me until a guard nudges her to keep walking and sit down, which she does reluctantly. The glass between us has many holes that allow us to hear each other, but for a while we only stare at the other without saying a word.

"You little bitch," Laura finally sneers, with a poisonous hiss. "Did you come here to mock me? To rub in my face what you did to me? Did you come to rejoice in my misery? Are you happy after ruining my life?"

The fact she's verbally attacking me, blaming me for this, kills the last bit of sympathy I felt for her.

"No, I didn't come for that and you're mistaken about something, Laura," I speak, confidently and resolute. "I didn't ruin your life, you did."

"You were the one who sued me and—"

"You're delusional if you think that's when things turned for the worst for you," I interrupt my stepmother. "You went wrong when you killed your humanity because of your own greed. When you married my father not because of his good heart but because of his money."

"I didn't marry him because of his money! I loved him," she cries out but I shake my head.

"If you did, you lost all credibility when you tried to kill me to take control of the company," I refute. "Even if you actually did love him, no one will believe you." I don't know if she's acting or not, but her eyes do tear up. "You ruined your life, Laura. I don't know exactly when you took the wrong turn, but you did it yourself and what you're living now is just the consequences of all your wrong decisions."

"If you had only died when you were supposed to, I wouldn't be here!" she insists, the tears falling this time. "Why do you have to be so stubborn and keep surviving no matter what I try?"

"And the fact you are angry about that instead of regretful is why you're here, Laura," I point out, not letting her tears affect me in the slightest. "You should be apologising to me instead of blaming me for this."

"No, no, it's your fault. I was just trying to be happy and you got in the way. Why is it so wrong wanting to be happy?" she continues crying and for a moment I'm shocked. Is she really asking me that?

"You're not supposed to get your happiness through other's misfortune. You have the right to be happy, but that right doesn't grant you immunity to kill people! No matter what, you can't kill people, Laura! That's not how you try to be happy. Your happiness can't come in exchange of someone else's life!" I shout at her, making her jerk back, shocked. "And when you tried to kill someone, you're not supposed to blame them for your wrong decisions and inhumane soul, you're supposed to beg forgiveness. To repent!"

"I just wanted to be happy, to have what I never did..." she whines and I feel only exasperated.

"I gave you a chance, remember?" I tell her. "To turn yourself in but you didn't take it. It would've been less terrible than what you got. And I guess no matter what, I'll never get an apology from you." To confirm my guess I see her clenching her handcuffed hands and glaring at me. "You have many years to understand what you did and why you're here. Hopefully, you'll regret one day."

Like that, I stand up and walk away, giving this conversation for finished and closing my ears to whatever Laura is saying. And with her screaming self, I leave whatever feelings I have for her. The pity for such a twisted mind, not even wondering how she ended up like that because it's pointless, it won't help me sleep at night and it won't make Laura understand either. I leave her behind and reassure myself I'm safe from her and I need to move on.

Outside Nora is waiting for me, with an expectant look in her eyes. I shrug and heave a tired sigh.

"How did it go?"

"Not how I expected, but at the same time, exactly like that. It's not like I really expected her to apologise to me, but I still wanted that." I recall her words, her delusions. "She got what she deserved, I'm at ease. Maybe with time she'll realise she dig her own grave."

Nora nods, a small smile on her lips before she loops her arm around mine and leads the way out of the complex.

"What matters most is that you put this behind and can move on. You're doing well with everything. We have started to see results of the changes and the employees are happy with you, they have started to trust you and believe that you're earnest; that's what the polls say," Nora inform me and I chuckle at her overflowing delight in such information. "Everything is still so hectic, but you're doing great so give yourself a pat on the back, Blanca."

"You give me enough pats in the back, I don't need to do that myself," I say and Nora's smile widens.

Everything is crazy, I still overwork myself, but Nora is always by my side, giving me support, encouraging me, helping me find the errors and the subsequent ways to fix those. She's the first to congratulate me on whatever that turns out right and the first to support me when it doesn't, telling me next time I'll do it well.

Nora is the one that also helps me make some time to see Will, basically forcing me not to work twenty-four-seven.

"And as a pat on your back for today, I asked Mark to take you home, where Will is waiting for you."

That twists my stomach for the wrong reasons. Although I'm always happy to see Will, I have been dreading this day, because today Will leaves to go back to university after the gap year he took. It's also part of the reason I came here, because I knew he wouldn't be around anymore to reassure me it was indeed over, that Laura was a problem in my life no more. He leaves and with him the warmth that I looked forward in those few occasions I made it back home.

I still have no clue how we're going to manage, and the fact that even with Nora's help I have seen little to almost nothing of Will doesn't help to ease the guilt; if anything this has only grown larger, choking me tighter every day. I still feel so terrible for failing Will, and that he doesn't blame me at all, the fact he understands and tells me it's all right only makes it worse.

"Hey, it's going to be all right, you're going to make it work," Nora reassures me, reading the change in my mood and figuring out the reason for it. "Distance won't be a problem for you two."

"Hmm," I mumble unconvinced.

I know I love Will and he loves me and that distance won't change that, but it doesn't mean I don't feel bad for how unfair that is. When you love someone you only want to give that person the best, you want them happy, and I feel I can't do that for Will. I can't do my best for him at this stage and when I start thinking of that I realise I was not ready to have a serious and important relationship, but now that I'm in one I don't want to give up on it.

It feels like I'm forcing this relationship beyond what it can be for now, and realising that scares me.

Still, I let Mark drive us back to London, drop Nora at her place and take me home where I know Will is waiting for me, with dinner and those understanding and kind eyes to tell me I did well and he's proud of me. And even when I love that he's so kind to me, it also makes me incredibly frustrated because I know I'm the one lacking and he's too much for me. I look at him and I feel like he's so far ahead from me, in a point of this relationship I can't reach no matter how much I run to catch up. I can't be confident about us, even if I'm so certain of our feelings.

I was brought up to have a business mind and in my world something that's not working needs to be changed. Something that doesn't give profit is something that's not working, and when a side is losing, then it's a bad trade. When I look at my relationship with Will I can't help feeling it's a bad investment because Will is losing more than he's gaining from this. My business mind tells me to end it and save Will from further loss, but that also breaks my heart and makes me hate that actually that is the best for him. For the two of us because it's not healthy either that one party feels so guilty in the relationship. I've tried to work on that and wrap my head around the idea that I'm not really hurting Will so it's not a problem anymore, but it's proved useless.

Yet, when I make it home and to him, I forget all that when I'm in his arms answering his questions about how it went. I can put on hold my guilt when he smiles at me and gives me such a domestic moment when we have dinner together, while he tells me about his preparations to go back to university, the projects he has for the future and all that.

There's so much in Will's future and no matter how much I try, I can't see myself fitting in there. And I don't mean it in the sense that I'm incompatible with those plans, I mean it in the sense I don't have the time to even try to be part of those plans because I can't quit my own duties.

"It's all right," Will says and that's when I realise I've voiced my worries out loud.

"It's not all right," I argue. "How can you be all right when I really don't have time to be with you? It's not fair it's always you coming to me or waiting for me. I hate doing that to you and it breaks my heart that you're okay with it."

Will's eyes finally look sad when he reaches to grab my hand over the table, tangling our fingers together.

"It seems that no matter what I say, I can't make you get rid of that guilt. I try to reassure you but it does not help in the slightest," Will comments with a tired voice, looking at our hands for a while before meeting my eyes.

"It's because I want to give you more, but I can't. At least not yet, because the company is bigger than me. I have so many people depending on me, it's not just me here. I'm responsible for their futures and stability and I can't neglect that because I want to be fair to you and be with you like an ordinary couple."

"I know, and believe me, it's one of the reasons why I love you so much, what made me fall so hard for you: you're responsible and reliable. You care so much for your people and do the right tight. You're fair and don't rejoice in other's misery even if that means your success." I press my lips tightly as I meet his eyes. "I don't like you feeling so troubled and guilty when you're not doing anything wrong."

"It's just that... it feels so unfair and I hate I can't do more for you, that this can't be on equal terms for the two of us. And I objectively know it would be better to break up instead of keep this going until it burns out."

"Would that make you feel at ease?" Will asks then, surprising me. "Breaking up, I mean?"

I'm shocked and cold at the same time when he asks that, and for a few seconds I can't answer. "It would be the best thing to do, but it would hurt so much," I confess, feeling my eyes burning with tears. "Especially now that you have to go to uni and not even you will have time for us. I don't see how to make it work in these conditions and my mind keeps telling me it's not the time. But I don't want to break up," I continue and now I know tears have pooled in my eyes, I have to blink them away and I feel them sliding down my cheeks. "I don't want to break up but I don't want to wear us out."

"Then let's not break up," Will says. "But let's do the best thing. I don't want you feeling guilty when you're not doing anything wrong, it's just that it is bigger than you."

"What do we do, then?" I ask with feeble voice, blinking quickly trying to keep Will in focus.

"I love you, and I know I want to be with you, but maybe you're right and this isn't the time for us. Both of us are too busy."

"What do we do, then?" I repeat, feeling the tears burning in my eyes.

"We wait," he says then with a sad smile. "We do what we have to do and wait until it's the time to be together, until we've learnt to deal with our responsibilities and we can manage time healthly."

I keep blinking as I process his words, his offer but it doesn't make fully sense to me. "But we're not breaking up?" I ask. "It sounds like breaking up."

Will chuckles, rising our hands to place a kiss on my knuckles. "No, it's not breaking up. We're just... on hiatus. You can do all you have to do without feeling guilty for that and I can also do what I have to do." I continue staring at him, my brain still not fully wrapping around this. "You always told me how my vision of the world was so narrow-minded because I only saw good and bad, black and white. But that was only a partial side of the world and I was still so ignorant to the way the real world works. You told me many times I needed to understand the side I fight against if I expect to win and it's true. There's so much to see and learn, and I've realised my own arrogance to believe I was the one in the good side and generalising everyone else." He smiles at me with shame but at the same time so much gratitude and love. "When I met you, I thought you were a horrible person when in fact you're one of the best people I've ever met." I take a sharp breath when he says that. "I have a lot to do, too, I still need to grow up and I want to be with you when I'm a better version of myself. I also feel like I'm so behind you, Blanca."

"It's really not the time for us, uh?" I question with a creaking voice.

"I guess you can say it like that, or maybe it's better to put it like we're still on our way to become the people we want to be, both for ourselves and for the other." He smiles reassuringly, lovingly. "I understand you don't want to ruin what we have by forcing it when you don't feel ready and I agree," Will continues. "So let's wait until things settle with the company and you feel grounded to actually give yourself the room to be with me; let's wait until I've become a better version of myself who doesn't judge people without giving them a fair chance. Let's wait until it's fair for both of us."

"But we're not breaking up," I repeat, just to reassure myself.

"We're not breaking up. There's no way I'm giving up on you, Blanca," he replies. "And I'm confident in how I feel about you, I know that no matter how much we wait, I'll still love and I'll want to be with you and only you."

"It's only a hiatus," I state, understanding a bit better what he means, yet a part of me is still hurting even when I know this is the best the two of us can do.

"Exactly, so don't cry, okay?" he pleads, brushing away the tears with his thumbs. "You won't stop loving me even if you're too busy changing the company for the better, right?"

"Of course not," I reply confidently and without hesitation. "And you won't stop loving me when you're saving the world?"

"Of course not," he chuckles, using my words. "And believe me, Blanca, when the time comes, I'll be back by your side to tell you it's time for us now."

It's as I watch him telling me that, understanding me perfectly and giving me the space I need when I realise Will is the one for me, as cliche as that sounds. There's no one else who could do this for me and I would definitely not believe anyone else who tried to tell me this. I believe it and accept it because it's Will, because I know I won't stop loving him and that when the time comes, we'll be together like we both want it. This is our way to protect what we have, to look after it until the right time comes.

I always knew I didn't have time in my life for romance, but I don't regret falling in love with Will and starting this, because he's exactly what I want and what I need.

"I'll be waiting," I whisper with a small smile.

"Me too, Blanca. Me too."

And with that, he leans forward, across the table and I do the same, meeting him halfway in a healing and loving kiss, salty withs my tears, but that doesn't make it taste like goodbye, not really.

My life turned upside down when the car went down that hill; everything changed, but I came out of that alive. I changed myself and I keep doing that, I keep growing. And with all those changes I met wonderful people that have also helped to become a better version of myself, people who understand me and make me feel like I'm not alone. People who let me spread my wings and do what I have to do.

I found someone who doesn't tie me down but let me fly high, someone who believes in me... who believes in us.

As Will and I break the kiss and stare in each other eyes I feel reassured and confident. We'll be all right, even if it's in a few years' time, we'll be fine.

We're not breaking up, it's just a hiatus until things settle down and we can be together as we want to be.

Most definitely, we'll be all right.

❅ ❅ ❅

And there you have it! The final chapter of Blanca Like Snow. Did you expect it would be like that? I always hinted it and you know I write the healthiest ending for my character. But remember there's an epilogue and like every book in the AP Series, it'll be a "happy ending" so look forward to that... and a special cameo as well ;)

Happy holidays, everyone!
Bel, xx