“I hate everyone!”
Ricardo froze.
“I hate this house!”
She pointed toward the hallway.
“I hate those stupid pictures!”
She pointed toward the family photographs.
“I hate people saying Mom is gone!”
Then she screamed:
“I HATE YOU, DAD!”
Ricardo went still.
Mariana immediately looked horrified.
She hadn’t meant to say it.
Or perhaps she had.
Luía didn’t move.
Ricardo looked at his daughter.
“I know.”
Mariana blinked.
“What?”
“I know.”
His voice broke.
“You don’t hate me.”
She started crying harder.
“You just hate that I’m not Mom.”
Mariana covered her face.
Ricardo walked toward her.
This time she didn’t run.
She fell into his arms.
And the two of them cried together.
Luía quietly left the room.
She knew that some moments belonged only to families.
But that evening, something changed between Ricardo and his daughters.
Not everything.
Not magically.
But something.
For the first time, he stopped trying to hire people to repair the damage.
