Chapter 103 - He's Alive

Lilianna

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I lowered myself onto the chair beside him, a bowl of soup trembling in my hands. His once strong frame was now a ghost of itself—gums bare with just a couple of teeth remaining, one eye an empty socket crudely sewn shut with rough stitches. I could hardly bear to look at him, my heart breaking at the sight of what he had become.

His head turned sluggishly towards me, his frail body too weak to sit up without assistance.

"Uncle Emilio..." My voice was barely above a whisper, choked with emotion.

He blinked slowly, a flicker of recognition igniting in his remaining eye. "Lilly?"

I inhaled sharply, blinking back tears. "You remember me?"

A faint, sorrowful smile tugged at his cracked lips. "Why am I here?"

I gripped the bowl tighter, my knuckles turning white. "I asked for you."

"Why?" His voice was a fragile rasp, each word a struggle.

"I missed you," I confessed, my voice breaking. "I missed you so much."

His eye glistened with unshed tears. "You shouldn’t h