EPISODE 12: FOREVER ## CHAPTER 1: ONE YEAR Spring arrives like a promise kept. The vineyards wake in waves—buds swelling, shoots emerging, the first green tracery of new growth against brown earth. Elena walks the rows with her father beside her, both of them cataloguing changes, planning the season ahead. "One year," Paolo says. "Since the courthouse." "It feels longer." "That's good. Means you've lived deeply." He pauses at a particular vine—one of the grandmother vines transplanted years ago, now thriving in Marchetti soil. "This one has settled. Roots going deep. Producing strong fruit." Elena recognizes the metaphor. "I'm not a vine, Papa." "No. Vines are easier." His weathered hand covers hers. "I was wrong about him. About the arrangement. About all of it. I was so focused on what we were losing that I couldn't see what we might gain." "You were protecting me." "I was being foolish. That man loves you more than I've ever seen anyone love anyone. The way he looked for you when you ran—" Paolo shakes his head. "He called me. Did you know? Desperate. Terrified. Asking if I knew where you'd gone. What he'd done wrong." Elena's throat tightens. "I didn't know." "A man who can be that vulnerable is a man worth keeping." Paolo faces her. "Whatever ceremony you're planning, whatever...