Her fingers pressed harder into his shoulder, but Luiz didn't flinch. He could feel the cold steel of authority pressing down, more lethal than any blade.
"You think I don't see you, Luiz?" she said, her voice almost a caress, yet razor-sharp beneath it. "I see everything. Every weakness. Every thought you try to hide. Every fleeting moment of pride. Every time you've let me down… and every time you've saved the rest of them from themselves. Do you think that spares you?"
Luiz's throat tightened. He swallowed. I can't argue. I won't…
She crouched slightly, bringing her face closer. "You've always carried the weight. And every time, you've thought it made you strong. But strength isn't surviving the fall—it's surviving what comes after."
Her eyes glittered in the dim light, a storm contained behind steel lids. Luiz felt it—not just fear, but the hollow, gnawing certainty that nothing would protect him. Not Mateo. Not his own stubborn defiance. Not even the fleeting hope that she might show mercy.
"You will sit here," she continued, stepping back and letting the cellar door close slightly behind her, leaving just enough light to outline her sharp silhouette. "And you will think. About every insult, every betrayal, every secret you've carried. You will imagine them all, and you will understand that the family you think you protect… does not protect you in return."
Her presence lingered like a shadow, her words settling into Luiz's mind like cold ash. Every breath he drew was heavy, every heartbeat a drum of dread.
"I will return," she said finally, her voice smooth, almost gentle in tone. "And when I do, you will be ready to face your lessons… fully. Until then, you will sit, and think, and remember what it means to belong to the Valentines. Alone."
The faint click of her heels faded up the stairs, leaving Luiz swallowed by darkness again. The cellar was silent, except for the uneven rhythm of his own breath.
Hours—or maybe minutes—passed. Time had lost all meaning. The cold bit at his skin. His thoughts circled, looping back to Mateo, to Livia, to Cyrus… to every cruel word, every shove, every betrayal.
Alone, Luiz realized something darker than the cold or the silence: he had no allies. Not here. Not anywhere.
The cellar didn't just hold him—it held his guilt, his fear, and the truth he'd been running from all along: sometimes, the heaviest punishment wasn't the lash or the cane… but being forced to look at the world and see no one standing beside you.
And in that crushing, suffocating quiet, Luiz began to understand: survival wasn't enough. This time, he had to endure. Truly endure.