That day, so dense and heavy for the core of the Xentras family—provoked by the intrusion and clinical scrutiny of Camila's parents—had finally reached its conclusion.
John did not manifest the slightest change in his behavioral patterns; he remained exactly as calm, hermetic, and vacant as always, processing his surroundings without social friction altering his vital signs. However, Camila and Romeo experienced a latent state of restlessness and annoyance. The scales tipped more severely toward Camila, who still felt the raw wound left by the derogatory remarks and the offense her own progenitors had unceremoniously hurled against her son's biological design.
"Whenever they decide to address the topic of John, it transforms into a statistical and moral problem..." the woman murmured, bringing a hand to her forehead as she attempted to dispel the mental fatigue.
Romeo wrapped his arms around her gently, exerting a comforting pressure and relying on that warm smile of his, which possessed the property of instantaneously lowering his wife's defenses.
"Everything is under control, my love. Eventually, they will comprehend John's nature and assimilate reality," he assured her. Then he shifted his gaze toward the little boy, maintaining an optimistic tone. "Now that the external variables have withdrawn, how about we modify tonight's culinary routine and dine out? I suggest we go to a restaurant."
A simple and direct technical suggestion... and the suffocating atmosphere that had permeated the walls of the house shattered completely, dissolving as though the elders' judgment had never taken place.
Midnight had already consolidated within the chronology of Valoria. John had retired to his quarters to initiate his rest cycle, and his parents returned to the master bedroom after finalizing the day's tasks.
"Honestly, I do not know what strategy to execute... my family transforms into an absolute and intractable nuisance the instant they introduce John's condition into the conversation," Camila confessed, the lines of the day's stress still rigidly marked within the modulation of her voice.
"Do not saturate your processes by overthinking the matter, darling. Whether they care to admit it or not, John is an inalienable part of this family. And he holds that right by the simple fact that you are his mother, the one who granted him life. It is only a matter of time and evolution before they come to their senses," Romeo declared, employing those simple, soft, and pragmatic word structures that did so much to soothe the doctor's temperament.
They settled together onto the mattress, intertwining gently to mitigate the chill of the night. After a few minutes of shared silence, both yielded to exhaustion and fell deeply asleep.
Dawn brought with it a new set of directives. Romeo took charge of transferring John to the academy grounds for his school day, while Camila boarded her vehicle and headed toward her family's imposing clan mansion, where her siblings and parents awaited her for a formal meeting.
During the journey along the main avenues, the vehicle stopped at the red signal of a traffic light. While waiting for the lights to shift, Camila cast a sideways glance toward the right side of the sidewalk. In that sector stood a commercial establishment, an apparently famous and high-end beauty salon that was already packed with clients at this hour.
Through the tempered glass windows, one could discern the constant movement of the stylists, the avant-garde and diffuse lighting, and a subtle melody filtering lightly through the panes. The beauty salon operated as a small oasis of vitality, aesthetics, and urban dynamism that contrasted drastically with the rigid protocol and gélid environment she knew she was about to face in the family meeting.
She contemplated the fluidity of the people inside the beauty salon with absolute tranquility for just a few seconds, archiving the image of that superficial normalcy.
The traffic light shifted to the green vector.
Camila pressed the accelerator and resumed driving.
Upon arriving at the grounds of the monumental family mansion, she stepped out of the automobile onto the main esplanade. Immediately, a uniformed employee took the keys to drive the vehicle toward the underground garage area. Her designer heels resonated with mathematical firmness against the polished marble tiles of the path, a rhythmic and dry sound that imposed a dominant presence with every step she took. Two of the property's workers walked at her flanks in perfect symmetrical formation, escorting her until she stood before a massive oak door, hand-carved with the lineage's coat of arms.
The men pushed the leaves, opening it slowly.
Upon crossing the threshold, Camila observed that the entirety of the dynasty was assembled in the council chamber: her siblings, her parents, in-laws, and cousins from various lines of consanguinity. Everyone remained seated in a strict hierarchical order, keeping an expectant silence and pinning their gazes upon her the moment she made her presence known.
Since her childhood years, Camila Xentras had possessed a solid, hermetic, and quiet temperament. She had softened the sharpest angles of her character when structuring her own home alongside Romeo, but in events of this magnitude... her old version, the one molded under the inflexible discipline of the clan, always returned to the surface.
"I apologize for the delay caused by traffic. We may now begin the order of the day," she declared in a clear, cutting voice.
And she advanced toward the center of the room with an elegant, controlled, and purely aristocratic gait. Her hair moved with a soft and precise turn of her head as she took her place at the table, completing an imposing entrance that absolutely no one in the room was capable of ignoring.