Chapter 10
Sofia left recordings.
I did not know.
Rosa did.
Javier did.
Dominic definitely did.
Apparently everyone who wanted to define my children had access to my dead wife’s voice except me.
I nearly broke the desk.
Instead, I asked where.
Rosa refused.
Javier smiled.
I looked at him.
“You know.”
He shrugged.
“Maybe.”
Mia had been listening outside the study.
I knew because she walked in before the guards could stop her.
“Mom has videos?”
I turned.
This was exactly why secrets poison children long after adults think they’re protecting them.
I crouched.
“Apparently.”
“Can I see?”
Rosa answered before me.
“They’re not for children.”
Mia looked at her.
“Mom was my mom.”
Simple.
Rosa had no answer.
I stood.
“Where are they?”
Javier finally spoke.
“Old nursery cabinet.”
My chest tightened.
The nursery had been closed after Sofia died.
Not because I couldn’t enter.
Because I could.
Too much.
The cabinet held six small memory drives.
Each labeled by year.
One for Leo.
One for Mia.
One for me.
Three unlabeled.
I played mine first.
Sofia appeared on screen.
Alive.
Smiling.
Then serious.
“Dante, if you’re watching this because Rosa or Dominic brought up tradition, don’t let them use me.”
I stopped breathing.
Mia took my hand.
Sofia continued.
“I know what they think children need. I disagree.”
Rosa closed her eyes.
There.
Not ambiguity.
Not reinterpretation.
A direct contradiction.
“Leo does not need fear to become strong. Mia does not need silence to become respected. If I die before they’re grown, promise me you will not let this family raise them backward.”
My vision blurred.
I hated that everyone was watching.
Then realized I didn’t.
Let them.
Sofia continued.
“And Dante—if someone tells you protecting them makes you weak, remember those people have always feared love they cannot control.”
The recording ended.
No one spoke.
Mia squeezed my fingers.
Rosa looked smaller.
Not remorseful.
Exposed.
I turned toward her.
“You used Sofia’s name for the opposite of what she wanted.”
She whispered, “She changed near the end.”
“No.”
I looked at the dark screen.
“She became clear.”
Then I looked at Javier.
He stared at the floor.
Dominic’s entire philosophy had just lost the dead woman they used to legitimize it.
May you like
That meant he would need something else.
And desperate ideologies always reach for blood next.
