At that moment my father appeared.
He remained a serious man, although much older.
Her expression changed completely when she recognized me.
He said absolutely nothing.
He just stood there watching me.
The silence was awkward.
It was the young woman who ended up breaking it.
—Grandma… who is she?
My mother took a deep breath.
—She is… someone very important to our family.
That answer only increased my confusion.
We went into the house.
Everything remained practically the same.
The old clock in the living room.
Family photographs.
The wooden table where we had dined so many times.
All that was missing were my photographs.
They had disappeared.
My mother made coffee while no one could find the right words.
Finally, it was I who spoke.
—Twenty years have passed.
My father lowered his gaze.
—We know.
—Why did they never try to find me?
No one answered.
The young woman watched the conversation without understanding anything at all.
“Who are you?” I asked gently.
She smiled.
—My name is Sofia.
Then he added something that surprised me again.
—My grandparents talk a lot about a daughter who left many years ago… but they never mention her name.
I looked at my parents.
-Because?
My mother started to cry.
—Because it was the biggest mistake of our lives.
Those words moved me, but they also raised new questions.
—So… why did they never come looking for me?
My father took a deep breath before answering.
—Because we thought you hated us.
I couldn’t help but smile sadly.
—I thought exactly the same thing about you.
Silence filled the room again.
Until my eyes stopped on a photograph placed on top of the living room furniture.
My parents appeared in it…
…along with Sofia.
But there was another woman too.
A woman I had never seen before.
I pointed at her.
—Who is she?
The three remained silent.
My mother started trembling.
My father closed his eyes.
And Sofia slowly lowered her head.
It was then that I realized that the photograph hid a much bigger story than I had imagined.
