The air felt suffocating.
With that, Roxy turned back to his father, his heart heavy with the weight of their shared pain. Whatever darkness had consumed his father's soul, Roxy vowed to fight it with every ounce of strength he possessed. The bond between father and son was unbreakable. He refused to believe it could end like this.
"Why is Dad chained like an animal?" he asked, anger creeping into his tone. "He was the strongest man I knew. A lawyer who destroyed criminals in court. What broke him?"
His mother stood near the doorway, trembling.
Roxy slowly approached his father again. His upper eyelids drooped with exhaustion and disbelief as he tried to study the broken man before him.
But suddenly—
"Ahhh!" his mother screamed.
She rushed forward and pushed Roxy away from his father with surprising force.
"Don't go near him!" she cried hysterically. "He will kill you!"
Roxy stumbled back, stunned.
Before he could react, his mother grabbed his arm, dragged him out of the room, and slammed the door shut. The lock clicked loudly, echoing through the hallway.
"Please," she begged from the other side of the door. "Don't go near him. I'm begging you."
Roxy pressed his palm against the closed door, trying to steady his breathing.
"Okay," he said softly, not wanting to see her in this shattered state. "I won't go near him."
He turned to face her.
"But please… just explain this to me. Dad was a brilliant lawyer. He never lost a case. He was strong. Confident. What happened to him?"
His mother's tears flowed freely now.
"What happened to him?" Roxy repeated, his voice breaking.
She looked up at him, her eyes red and swollen.
"Because of your sister's death," she shouted.
The words hit him like a physical blow.
Roxy's breath caught in his throat. The mention of his sister sent a cold shiver down his spine, dragging back
memories he had tried so hard to bury.
"My sister…" he whispered, barely able to speak.
His mother nodded slowly.
"But why didn't anyone tell me?" Roxy's voice cracked, anger breaking through his restraint. "You let me smile, study, plan my future… while my family was collapsing."
His mother's shoulders shook.
"We were trying to save you," she said weakly.
"Save me?" His eyes darkened. "Or hide the truth from me?"
"Your father blamed himself for what happened to her," she said, her voice trembling. "He believed he failed her. He believed he should have protected her."
Roxy felt his chest tighten painfully.
"He couldn't bear the guilt," she continued. "It consumed him. Day and night. He stopped trusting people. He thought someone was watching us. He said her death wasn't simple."
Roxy's mind raced.
"Wasn't simple?" he asked quietly.
His mother hesitated.
"He said it wasn't an accident," she admitted at last.
The silence that followed was heavier than before.
Roxy remembered his sister's laughter. The way she used to run through the house. The way she would tease him endlessly. The light she brought into every corner of their lives.
And now she was gone. Roxy demanded, anger and hurt rising together. "Why was I kept in the dark?"
"It didn't," Roxy said quietly.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he pulled his mother into an embrace. She clung to him as though afraid he would disappear again.
Despite the months of silence and secrecy, he could still feel the love holding them together.
But beneath that love lay something darker.
Something unfinished.
They stood there in the hallway, holding onto each other while the locked room behind them remained silent.
Roxy closed his eyes.
This wasn't just grief.
This was something else.
Something hidden.
And deep inside, he knew one thing with certainty—
His sister's death was not an accident.
And whatever truth his father had uncovered…
It had destroyed him.