As if saying it out loud… were harder than carrying it.
—They are not my children.
Valeria didn’t move.
He wasn’t surprised.
He just… listened.
“They are brothers,” he continued. “Of other men… who are also gone.”
The air became heavy.
—I grew up in a place where… children weren’t children.
His words came out slowly.
Without drama.
But each one… fell like a stone.
—They made us work… punishments… if we didn’t comply…
Her hand touched one of the scars without looking at it.
—And when someone tried to escape… they marked them.
Valeria felt a knot in her chest.
-And you?
