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"Yeah," she shrugged. "I was a bit shocked, to be honest. It was terrifying on the spot, but I'm glad my reflexes worked, otherwise I wouldn't be here."
"You're right," Yuyu gave her a sad smile as she recognized the veracity of her words. Noelle had suffered a traumatic event. Instead of interrogating her about it, they should be happy she'd survived. "You did very well, Noelle. We're both very proud of you. I hope you know that."
Noelle flushed, burying her chin into her neck.
"Even after everything?" she asked softly—so softly Yuyu barely heard her.
She'd wanted Cisco to be the one to talk to her since he was her brother, and she'd always supported their bond. But seeing Noelle seem so unsure, she realized she needed to make her stance known as well.
"I've always been proud of you," she replied, pacing her hand on top of the knife to stop Noelle's movements. "We all make mistakes, Noelle. It's human nature. But if you learn from them, they stop being mistakes, and they become experienced. No one is perfect."
She nodded slowly, a small smile appearing on her face.
The rest of the day passed in a flurry and by late afternoon, Cisco and Val had returned with their own bounty—mushrooms, salad and a variety of berries.
Noelle and Yuyu had fun in the kitchen preparing the different recipes and having a contest for the best dish—all in good humor of course.
Though in the beginning Noelle had started as shy and apologetic, by the end of the day Yuyu had managed to coax her out of her shell.
It was sometime after dinner that the phone call came. Noelle had already retired to her room and Yuyu had just put Val to sleep.
The call was through the satellite phone Cisco always kept for emergencies, and as they heard it ring, they knew to expect the worst.
Cisco and Yuyu went outside, walking a small distance from the cabin so their voices wouldn't echo. Only then did they answer the phone.
And the news was dire.
Sergio Villanueva had survived.
"No," Yuyu's hands went to her mouth as her eyes widened in shock.
Cisco pursed her lips, unable to react.
"We can't do this. We can't," Yuyu repeated.
"He wants hispromisedbride."
"She's fifteen," she hissed.
"And he will wait until she's eighteen to claim her," Cisco sighed.
"This can't be happening," Yuyu muttered as she paced around. "This can't be happening, Cisco. We've tried to shield her from everything for years. And now this? No, I refuse to let it happen."
"We have no choice, love," Cisco said in a resigned voice.
"I hate your mother," she spat vehemently—the first time she'd ever uttered that sentence. "Ihateyour parents," she repeated, her eyes misted with tears.
"We had no way of knowing they'd go behind our backs and offer Noelle for Val."
"No, but they did. And you know what? I hate myself even more becauseI'm the reason this happened. I'm the reason," she paused, choking on her tears. "If only…"
"If what? I would have never married Camilla and you know that. I would have only ever marriedyou. You, or no one else," he said coolly.
"But you married me. And that's why they took offense. That's why…"
Elena and Amato had never accepted Yuyu to the family and had openly told her so many times. Despite that, they had loved Val because he was Cisco's child. Having seen that, Yuyu had simply come to terms that her in-laws would never like her, but she'd been fine with it as long as they treated Val nicely.
Yet that had come with a price, too.
