Luiz had begun to count the minutes, though he wasn't sure if they were minutes, hours, or days. The darkness pressed in, and every sound from the house above made him flinch. The faint scrape of a chair, the soft click of a door, the distant murmur of voices—it was all amplified in the cold, hollow cellar.
Then, a shadow appeared at the threshold. Not her full figure this time, just the glint of her shoes, the faint rustle of silk. She didn't speak immediately. She simply waited, letting the silence stretch until Luiz felt it pressing into his chest like a vise.
Finally, her voice cut through the dark. Smooth. Mocking."Do you know why I've left you here alone?"
Luiz shook his head slightly, though it did little.
"To think," she continued, pacing just out of reach. "To understand that all the noise, all the fights, all the anger—none of it protects you. None of it matters. You're small in the scheme of this family. And yet, you carry all of it."
Her words were soft but heavy, each syllable sinking into him like lead. Luiz wanted to answer, to argue, but he felt the words stick in his throat. She had always known how to find the gap between thought and speech—the place where fear and reason collided—and squeeze it until it bled.
"Do you think Mateo fears you?" she asked suddenly, crouching so that her face was just a shadow in the dim light. "Do you think he sees you as strong? Do you think he sees you at all?"
Luiz swallowed hard. He could barely meet her gaze. "I… I try to protect him," he said quietly.
She let out a soft, almost amused hum. "Ah, yes. Protector of the family. The martyr. Always taking the fall, always carrying the shame. And yet, he looks at you with fear in his eyes, not respect. Do you know why?"
Luiz's chest tightened. He didn't.
"Because fear," she whispered, leaning even closer, "is easier than admiration. And fear… is what keeps him alive. But you… you carry it all inside. You will feel the weight of their hatred, of their lies, and of your own failure. Every second you sit here, you are learning what it means to be truly alone."
A soft, deliberate pause. Then her voice, calm but poisonous:"I could leave you here for days. Weeks. Months. And each moment, you would relive everything you've done wrong. Every insult, every fight, every betrayal. You would remember it all, over and over, until you begin to crave my presence… and even then, it will only come as punishment."
She straightened, footsteps retreating slowly up the stairs. "Sleep if you can. Think if you must. But know this, Luiz…"
The cellar door clicked behind her. The faintest hint of a smile echoed in her voice."You are mine. Completely. And I will see exactly how far your spirit can bend before it breaks."
The darkness swallowed him again, heavier than before. Luiz pressed his palms against his eyes, trying to block the memories, the guilt, the suffocating dread.
But he could feel it already—the first cracks in his resolve. The games had begun. And Grandmother Valentine always won.