Sofia did not speak dramatically. She spoke like someone who had been carrying this reality for years.
She explained that she worked hard, sometimes juggling multiple jobs. That her family helped. That Daniel had not lacked love. That she had created stability, even without luxury.
She did not list sacrifices as a way to shame him. She stated them as facts.
And those facts made Alex’s life feel suddenly hollow.
He had built an empire.
Sofia had built a childhood.
The difference mattered more than he could put into words.
Wanting In After Years of Absence
“I want to meet him,” Alex said finally. “I want to be part of his life.”
Sofia’s expression turned guarded.
“Now you want to be a father?” she asked. “Is it because you suddenly feel something… or because you realized you have an heir?”
Alex flinched at the word, not because it was untrue, but because it forced him to examine himself honestly.
“It’s not about money,” he said. “It’s about Daniel. I want to make things right.”
Sofia’s laugh was soft, tired.
“How do you make up for years?” she asked. “For nights when he was sick, for birthdays, for questions I had to answer alone? You can’t write a check for time.”
Then she said something that made Alex’s stomach twist.
“Daniel thinks his father is an astronaut,” she said. “On a long mission in space. I told him that so he wouldn’t feel abandoned.”
Alex’s eyes stung.
An astronaut.
His son had grown up with a fairytale to soften the truth.
And Alex realized the debt he owed was not financial.
It was a debt of the heart.
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