Chapter 33

• The safe house felt unusually quiet as the sun set behind the thick forest, its golden light spilling through the windows. Rafael sat at the edge of the couch, gazing at the four children sprawled across the living room floor. They were building a castle with wooden blocks, their tiny voices rising and falling as they debated where the tower should go.
• For years, Rafael had been detached from the idea of family, focused solely on the gritty, often brutal world of survival. But watching his children now, their laughter punctuating the stillness, he felt something stir inside him—something unfamiliar yet grounding.
• Maya stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter. She watched him silently, her arms crossed. It had taken time, but Rafael was beginning to fit into the rhythm of their lives. She couldn’t deny how the children had started to gravitate toward him. It unsettled her but warmed her in ways she didn’t want to admit.