Chương 2
His face changed immediately.
He moved faster than I expected.
He took it from my hand and looked at the screen.
“What did you do?”
I did not answer.
The fear in his voice was different from the anger.
For the first time that morning, he looked uncertain.
“You called someone?”
“No.”
I swallowed.
“I sent a message.”
He stared at me.
“To who?”
I stayed silent.
That was my mistake.
Silence had always made him more dangerous.
He threw the phone against the wall.
The sound echoed through the kitchen.
I covered my stomach instinctively.
“Who did you call?”
“My brother.”
Victor froze.
Everyone knew Alex.
They knew he was the one person in my family who never trusted Victor.
Helena stood up.
“Victor.”
Her voice was no longer amused.
“He cannot come here.”
Raúl looked toward the front door.
“Did she tell him where we are?”
Victor looked back at me.
And I realized something important.
They were afraid.
Not because they suddenly cared about me.
Because someone outside their control might see what happened inside our home.
Victor crouched down.
His voice became quiet.
“You are going to tell him everything is fine.”
I looked at him.
For years, I had tried to protect his reputation.
I had hidden bruises under long sleeves.
I had made excuses for missed family events.
I had smiled in pictures when I wanted to disappear.
But something inside me had finally become exhausted.
“I’m not lying anymore.”
The sentence surprised even me.
Victor stared at me like I had spoken another language.
Helena whispered my name.
Not with concern.
With warning.
The front door opened before anyone could say anything else.
Everyone turned.
A moment later, my phone, the same broken phone Victor had thrown away, made a sound from the floor.
A new message appeared.
Alex had replied.
I could not read the entire message from where I was sitting.
But I saw the first three words.
I’m coming now.
The room went still after that message appeared.
Victor looked at the phone on the floor like it had become something dangerous.
“Delete it,” he said.
Nobody moved.
His voice sharpened.
“I said delete it.”
I pushed myself up against the cabinet, one hand holding my stomach and the other pressing against the cold tile.
My legs felt weak.
My whole body felt like it belonged to someone else.
But I looked at Victor and shook my head.
“No.”
It was a small word.
Almost nothing.
Yet the effect it had on him was immediate.
He stepped forward.
Raúl stood between us.
Not to protect me.
To stop Victor from making the situation worse before someone arrived.
“Enough,” Raúl muttered.
Victor looked at his father.
“You heard her.”
“I heard.”
“Then do something.”
Raúl’s face tightened.
For the first time, I saw something close to discomfort on him.
Not guilt.
Not compassion.
Just the frustration of a man who wanted a problem to disappear.
“You should not have let her contact him.”
The sentence landed harder than I expected.
Because it confirmed what I had always known.
They were not surprised by what Victor did.
They were surprised that someone might finally see it.
Helena walked toward me slowly.
Her expression had changed completely.
The fake warmth was gone.
“You know what happens if you ruin this family, right?”
I stared at her.
“My family was already ruined.”
She stopped.
The words seemed to bother her more than any accusation.
Because accusations could be denied.
But truth was harder.
“You have always been dramatic,” she said.
I almost laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because I suddenly understood how long I had spent trying to convince people who had already decided not to listen.
A knock came from the front door.
Everyone froze.
Victor looked toward the hallway.
Another knock followed.
Harder this time.
“Open the door,” a man’s voice called.
Alex.
I had not heard his voice in person in almost a month.
But I knew it instantly.
Victor’s face lost color.
Nora lowered her phone.
For once, she looked unsure of herself.
“Did you call him?” Helena whispered.
I looked at her.
“No.”
My voice was steadier now.
“He came because he knows me.”
The front door opened before Victor could answer.
Alex stepped inside wearing jeans, a dark jacket, and the same expression he had whenever he walked into a situation he did not trust.
He looked at me first.
Not at Victor.
Not at their family.
Me.
Then his eyes moved to the floor, the broken phone, the overturned chair, and the faces around the kitchen.
His jaw tightened.
“Are you hurt?”
I tried to answer quickly.
“I’m okay.”
Alex looked at me for a long second.
He knew me too well.
“You always say that when you are not okay.”
Victor stepped forward.
“This is a private family matter.”
Alex ignored him.
He walked closer to me.
“Can you stand?”
I nodded.
Then I tried.
My body immediately reminded me that pride did not make me stronger.
Alex caught my arm before I fell.
The simple act almost broke something inside me.
Because it had been so long since someone touched me without wanting something from me.
“We are leaving,” Alex said.
Victor laughed quietly.
“You are not taking my wife anywhere.”
Alex finally looked at him.
The room changed.
Alex had never been a loud person.
That was what made him intimidating.
He did not need to prove he was angry.
“You should be very careful about what you call normal.”
Victor stepped closer.
“You think you know what happened?”
“No.”
Alex glanced at the kitchen.
“I think I know enough to know she is afraid to stand next to you.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“She fell.”
Alex looked at the bruising already forming on my leg.
Then he looked at the broken phone.
Then at Nora.
The silence became uncomfortable.
“Did you record this?” he asked her.
May you like
Nora looked away.
“I was just joking around.”
