His past

"Your mother?"

"My mom," Francisco uttered, looking up at the sky. "She was the most beautiful woman. My dad always said I had her eyes."

Hazel touched his hair gently and asked, "What happened to her?"

Francisco slightly smiled, a sad smile that didn't reach his eyes. "The same thing that happens to most in a mafia family. Dad's rivals killed her first."

Hazel's heart sank as she listened. Francisco continued, "At that time, I was living in London for my studies. I had everything I wanted, the freedom to live a normal life. But after she was killed, everything changed. Everything I had slowly slipped away."

His voice grew softer, more haunted.

"Every night, I struggled to sleep. It felt like if I closed my eyes, someone would come and kill me too."

Hazel was engrossed in his words, feeling the weight of his trauma. She didn't know how to comfort him, but whatever she was hearing made her feel weaker towards him. Francisco had experienced deep trauma in his childhood, and she could se