Slowly. Controlled. Purposefully.
She stared. Waiting.
He blinked again, faster this time. His eyes moved, barely, to hers. Then he looked away. A bead of sweat formed at his temple.
Lina stepped back. “So it’s true,” she whispered. “You’ve been pretending all this time. Why?”
Silence.
A long, unbearable silence.
Then Julián’s chest heaved, differently this time. A stifled sob, or perhaps breathing that grew heavier.
Slowly, with great agony, he sat up. Just as he had in the video.
He avoided her eyes. His lips moved, dry and cracked. “I can explain.”
His voice was hoarse. Raspy. Underused.
Lina’s legs were shaking. “Can you explain?”
“I didn’t mean for this to go this far,” he rasped.
She stared at him, dazed with fury. “TWENTY-THREE YEARS, Julian! I gave up everything! I buried myself alive for you!”
She raised a hand, trembling. “It started as a mistake… but then it became a trap.”
Lina shook her head, clutching her chest. “What kind of mistake lasts two decades?”
Julian closed his eyes, as if to disappear into the memory. “The accident. It was real. I was paralyzed. For the first three years… I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I heard everything, but I was trapped in my body.”
Tears burned Lina’s eyes again.
“Then one day,” she continued, “I sprained my finger. Just a little. No one saw me. Then another. I regained my strength. Slowly. Silently.”
Why didn’t you say anything?
Julian’s mouth trembled. “Because I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
He looked at her now, really looked at her. His eyes were haunted. “Afraid of life. Of pain. Of expectations. Of having to explain why I’d been ‘missing’ for so long. The world went on without me, and I couldn’t reach it. But here… with you… I was safe.”
Lina backed away. “So you let me believe you were brain dead? You let me feed you, clean you… mourn you while you were still breathing?”
Julian broke down. His face crumbled with guilt. “I hated myself. Every day. But the longer I waited, the harder it became. You were so kind, so strong. You built your whole life around me. I didn’t know how to stop it without destroying you.”
“I destroyed myself for you,” he whispered.
“I know.”
Lina turned away, her body shaking.
“I thought about telling you,” Julian said. “So many times. But I couldn’t bear to see your face. The betrayal. The pain. And then the years passed. And it became easier to pretend.”
“You lied for twenty-three years.”
He nodded.
Silence fell between them again, heavy as a stone.
Then Lina spoke: “Do you know what hurts you the most?”
He didn’t answer.
I could have lived. Traveled. Loved again. But I stayed. For you… I thought I was keeping my son alive. But you… you buried me.”
Julian burst into tears. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want your forgiveness.”
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