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He sits on the edge of the bed, holding her cold hands as she sheds tears of regret.
-There's something I must tell you before I go,’ he begins in a trembling voice, -something I've held back for years, but I can't any longer.
A shiver runs down his spine, as if sensing the emotional storm ahead.
She takes a breath and blurts out the truth like a poisoned dagger:
-25 years ago, I stole money from your brother.
His world is falling apart. Her brother, who had always been an example of integrity, victim of the theft from the woman he loves most.
-What did you do? -he manages to articulate, his voice laden with disbelief and betrayal.
She explains that, in a moment of financial desperation, she had taken the money her brother had entrusted to him, using it to save their family business from bankruptcy.
-I did it to save us, -she says,-but I never had the courage to tell you or to pay it back. I lived with the guilt all these decades.
He feels as if an abyss is opening up beneath his feet. The woman who had sworn to love and respect him, to whom he had entrusted his life, had betrayed her own family. The image of his honoured brother, stripped of his savings, haunted his mind.
With tears in his eyes, he rises from the bed, unable to look at her. Trust had been broken, and even if she begged for forgiveness, a part of him was already dead. Love had become a spectre haunted by secrets and disloyalty.