INICIAR SESIÓNLife had shifted beautifully for Xavier and Cynthia, but they weren’t the only ones whose worlds changed. Everyone who had been part of their journey found their own paths branching into places they never imagined.Louisa returned to Canada after the competition, heart full and beaming with pride. Watching Cynthia shine on that stage reminded her why she had always believed in her best friend’s strength. Canada was still challenging, but she no longer felt alone. She made new friends, settled fully into school, and slowly carved out a life she loved. Whenever Cynthia sent her pictures of the twins, Louisa cried happily, insisting she would be the “coolest aunty in the world.” After graduation, she accepted a job at a top marketing firm in Toronto and visited home only twice a year, but each time she came back, she stayed with Cynthia and Xavier—her second family.Amelia grew too. Cynthia’s rise to fame inspired her in unexpected ways. She had always been bubbly and playful, but seeing
The morning of the competition arrived with a kind of nervous stillness that Cynthia had never felt before. Paris woke slowly beneath her window, soft light spilling across the city like a blessing. She stood in front of the mirror, palms pressed to the edges of the dressing table, breathing deeply as she tried to settle the butterflies cartwheeling in her stomach. Months of hard work had led to this moment. Every cut, every burn, every long day and late night, every tear and every triumph. Today would determine whether all her effort had been worth it.She touched her apron, embroidered with her name in delicate gold thread. It still amazed her that she, Cynthia Sanchez, the girl who once hid in her kitchen at home trying to follow recipes from her phone, now stood as one of the top competitors in one of Paris’ most demanding culinary institutes. She whispered a prayer under her breath, then straightened her shoulders and stepped out of the bedroom.Her parents were already in the li
Cynthia could hardly believe how much time had passed. Months. Actual months in Paris. Sometimes she woke up still expecting to see the old room back home, the soft curtains she chose with Louisa, or even the lake house walls where she recovered from the darkest moments of her life. But each morning she opened her eyes to the sun melting through the tall French windows of their apartment — the one Xavier insisted on getting so she wouldn’t feel like a visitor in the city.Paris had become a second kind of home, one crafted slowly through routine, growth, and an unexpected kind of independence. Her days were full now full in a way she never imagined before she enrolled in culinary school. She baked, chopped, whisked, burnt, improved, experimented, and learned. She was no longer the girl who entered the supermarket lost in front of a shelf of spices. She now understood flavors the way she once understood colors or music — each one with its own voice, its own personality, its own story.
Cynthia woke up to the soft, muted glow of a Parisian morning filtering through the curtains. The room smelled faintly of lavender from the diffuser Xavier had set beside the bed a few nights earlier, insisting she needed something calming after long days in school. For a moment she lay still, listening to the quiet hum of the apartment. Usually she heard Xavier’s deep voice on the phone or the quiet shuffle of his footsteps as he prepared for the day. This morning there was silence, and it took her a moment to remember why.Today was the day he was flying back home.She sat up slowly, hugging her knees and letting the realization settle. He wasn’t leaving forever, she reminded herself. It was just for work. He had responsibilities, and she had hers. But the apartment already felt too big, too quiet, too unfamiliar without him moving around in it.She found him in the living room, dressed in dark slacks and a fitted shirt, reviewing files on his tablet. His luggage was packed neatly b
Cynthia woke up before her alarm, long before the morning sun pushed through the curtains of their Paris apartment. Excitement fluttered through her like a restless bird, making it impossible to go back to sleep. She lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, letting the weight of what the day meant settle fully in her chest. Her first day. Her real beginning.She slipped out of bed quietly so she wouldn’t wake Xavier. He had come home late the previous night from a meeting and needed every extra minute of rest he could get. She moved around the room on light feet, taking slow breaths as she dressed in the simple white blouse and pale blue trousers she had chosen for the day. Her hands trembled slightly as she brushed her hair. Not from fear exactly, but from the enormity of the moment. She had waited so long to feel like she belonged somewhere again.When she stepped into the living room, she froze. Xavier was sitting on the sofa, hair slightly messy, robe loosely tied, watching
Cynthia woke up to a strange quiet, the kind that didn’t feel heavy or frightening but almost… expectant. Paris mornings always seemed softer than the ones she was used to back home, the light slipping in like a gentle visitor. She lay still for a moment, listening to Xavier’s even breathing beside her, warm and steady. Normally, she’d curl closer, but today her heart felt too restless for sleep. Something pressed at the back of her mind, something she had been avoiding for days.Her email.She hadn’t checked since the interview. Partly because she didn’t want bad news to ruin this trip, and partly because she was afraid of wanting something too much.Quietly, she slipped out of bed, pulling on one of Xavier’s shirts and padding barefoot into the small living room of the apartment they now called home in Paris. Her laptop sat on the couch exactly where she left it last night. She hesitated with her fingers hovering over the lid, as if the entire future of her life sat behind that thin






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