“I asked him about it,” Grandma Nina continued.
“He said it was business. That I wouldn’t understand.”
“When I told him we were supposed to build a life together, he just looked at me, still wearing that same warm grin, but there was nothing warm in his eyes.”
“Oh, Nina,” he had sighed, like she was slow. “That is the life. You’re lucky. I’m making sure we don’t stay poor.”
“When I started crying, he kissed my cheek like I was a child and said impatiently, ‘Love is nice, but money is what keeps people alive. You’ll thank me later.'”
“I never forgot those words…”
Sofia felt her heart break for the girl her grandmother had been.
“Two weeks later, he made me sign over the family house to him.”
“Said it was for us, for our future. A month after that, he was gone. And so was the deed.”
Grandma Nina’s hands trembled harder now.
“He didn’t marry me for love. He married me because he saw me as a path to something else. Something valuable.”
She looked at Sofia with eyes full of grief and apology.
“That’s why I said what I said. Because when I saw Ethan… I saw Victor all over again.”
Sofia moved without thinking.
She reached forward and took her grandmother’s hands in her own.
They sat in silence for a moment, generations of pain humming between them.
“I didn’t ruin your wedding,” Grandma Nina whispered. “But I did ruin your heart. And for that, I’m sorry.”
Sofia shook her head, tears blurring her vision.
“No, Grandma. You saved me. You’re the only one who ever did.”
Read more below 👇
