“No,” my mother said.
One word.
Small.
Clear.
Final.
Every head turned.
My mother rose with her cane.
Slowly.
Painfully.
As though dignity itself had chosen to stand.
“You kicked my cane,” she told Vanessa. “Not because you were angry. Because you thought no one important was watching.”
Fake tears filled Vanessa’s eyes.
“Elena, please. You misunderstood.”
My mother smiled sadly.
“I have been poor. I have been sick. I have been afraid. But I have never been stupid.”
The room erupted.
Vanessa lunged toward me.
“You promised me forever.”
“I promised that to the woman you pretended to be.”
She slapped me.
The crack echoed across the hall.
For one brief second, the old fighter inside me opened his eyes.
I did nothing.
That became the final blow she never anticipated.
Every camera recorded her striking me.
Every witness saw me remain still.
Malik stepped between us.
“You need to leave.”
