The grandfather reached out his trembling hand to help Fati stand, his voice filled with indignation:
- What is all this? Why are you doing this to her, young man?
Jaguar replied with a voice dripping with venom,
- Do you really have to ask, old man?
- Where is your respect? How dare you speak to your elders in such a way?
Fati tried desperately to calm the situation despite her pain, saying weakly,
- I'm fine, Grandfather... don't worry.
But the grandfather's eyes caught the blood staining her forehead. He flared with anger and looked at Jaguar:
- What is this blood on her forehead? What did you do to her?
Jaguar shouted back at him,
- No, what did you do to my grandfather?!
The grandfather's expression froze.
- Your grandfather? What happened to him?
- Tell me! He is fighting for his life because of you! You want to kill another member of my family, don't you?
The grandfather looked at Fati for an explanation.
She answered in a choked voice,
- After your call, Grandfather... he collapsed
Jaguar didn't let her finish. He interrupted with a roar that shook the room:
- What did you tell him?! Why did you kill him?!
At that moment, a terrifying silence fell before the grandfather and Fati asked at the same time, in the same horrified tone:
- Is he dead?!
Jaguar looked at them with disbelief and disgust, thinking their question was a wish for death.
- Is this all you both want?
He asked, his voice shaking with rage.
- Jaguar, why do you think we would want that?
Fati asked weakly.
- You especially... shut up!
He stepped toward her, brutally grabbing her by her hair. She let out a piercing cry of pain.
- Let me go! Please, let me go!
He showed no mercy, throwing her to the ground again. He turned to the grandfather, shouting,
- Are you happy now? Do you want me to treat her like this? Is this what you wanted, old man?
Fati stood up, begging him,
- Please... don't do this in front of my grandfather!
The grandfather raised his trembling hand, his eyes burning as he saw his granddaughter being humiliated. He clutched his chest, trying to stand, but his body failed him. He fell from his wheelchair, hitting the floor. Fati was horrified and tried to reach him, but Jaguar's grip on her hair held her back.
- Please, let me go! I need to check on my grandfather!
- This is what he deserves for what he did to my grandfather!
Her grandfather was lying face down, and Fati cried out in a breakdown,
- I beg you, let me go!
Then she called to him,
- Grandfather, please stay with me. I'm fine... listen to me, I'm fine!
Finally, Jaguar released her and said coldly,
- This is the end for those who don't think of the consequences... you traitors!
He turned to leave. Fati, frantically trying to turn her grandfather over, screamed,
- Jaguar, don't leave! Save my grandfather... take him to the hospital!
But he didn't look back. He walked out, pulled the marriage contract from his coat, and tore it into tiny pieces that scattered in the wind like ash.
Fati looked at her grandfather, whose eyes were barely staying open, and said in a trembling voice:
- Grandfather... my dear, it's all over.
She embraced his frail body, whispering,
- He's gone. He won't bother us ever again, I promise.
A hot tear fell down her cheek as she continued,
- Please stay with me... don't leave me alone in this world.
But the grandfather remained motionless. She kissed his hand, pleading,
- Grandfather, talk to me. Did you miss me? I know these past days must have been hell for you, so I'm coming back to live with you. I'll never leave you again.
She kissed his forehead, her tears flowing even faster:
- Tell me you missed me. Tell me you'll stay with me until I finish my education.
Suddenly, she heard him muttering something. She pressed her ear close to his lips to catch his final breath:
- Rosie... you are the daughter... of Ro...sie.
- Who is Rosie, Grandfather? You're hallucinating... it's okay, say whatever you want, just stay with me!
- Rosie... Ro...
He uttered that last name, and his hands fell lifeless to the floor, marking the passing of the only heart that truly loved her, and the departure of the secret with him forever.
Fati searched frantically for her phone, only to bitterly remember she had left it in Jaguar's hall when he dragged her away by force. She couldn't find her grandfather's phone in his pockets either, so she ran to his room and found it on the nightstand. She called the ambulance, clinging to a fading hope, but by the time they arrived, her grandfather's body was already cold the soul and the secret had vanished together.
The funeral passed like a heavy, lonely dream. Jaguar did not show up, and it was better that way; Fati felt a fire in her chest strong enough to kill him if she saw him. Her mother didn't come near her, and her father didn't comfort her. Only her little brother stayed close, sleeping in her lap as if he were the only one who could feel her pain. She remained like that, detached from the world, until everything was over.
Back at the house, her father shattered her remaining hope by coldly announcing his plan to sell the old home. Then he said,
- Fati, find yourself a job here and live your life however you want.
She looked at her mother in shock, stunned by their coldness and their desire to get rid of her. She asked, her voice breaking,
- Aren't you taking me with you?
Her mother didn't answer. She simply picked up the sleeping boy from Fati's lap and said as she headed inside,
- I'm going in now. You deal with her.
As her mother left the room, a heavy silence settled, broken only by Fati's question that felt like a stab:
- Am I really your daughter?
Her father replied with a terrifying coldness,
- Why are you asking this now?
- I know you don't want me... but why must I be such an outcast?
Her father said indifferently, looking away,
- You are my daughter. Whose else would you be?
At that moment, the name "Rosie" echoed in her mind the word her grandfather had whispered with his final breath.
- Then... who is Rosie?
The father froze. A suspicious silence filled the room before he muttered,
- It seems my father couldn't keep quiet even in his final moments.
- Is Rosie my real mother?
Fati asked, her heart trembling.
- Yes... she is.
- And who was she?
Silence choked the room again. The father didn't want to dig up the past, but he decided to end it with a final blow:
- You are the daughter of a maid who worked in our house. I cheated on my wife with her.
- I am... the daughter of a maid?
She whispered in shock. He didn't look at her. He continued coldly,
- Yes, the daughter of that maid, Rosie. She died giving birth to you. Don't ask me anything else; I know nothing more about her.
The words hit Fati like falling rocks; finally, she understood the reason for the coldness she had faced her entire life. But her father wasn't done shattering her world; he ended with an order just as cruel:
- I want you out of this house so I can sell it. You have only one week.