Daniel had replied firmly, his grip on her hand tightening. “You need to respect his dignity. This is about more than just practical care—it’s about honoring who he was before the stroke, protecting what little privacy and pride he has left. If you break this promise… I’m not exaggerating when I say it could destroy our family. Some boundaries exist for good reasons, even if we don’t fully understand them at first.“
His eyes had been so serious, so filled with an emotion she couldn’t quite identify—fear, maybe, or something deeper and more complicated—that Lucía had agreed. Out of love for Daniel, out of trust that he knew what was best for his father, she had made the promise.
And for two full years, she kept it faithfully.
For twenty-four But she never saw Rafael herself, never spoke to him directly, never looked into those eyes that Daniel said still
