Barely fifteen minutes had passed since the butler left after serving her the strawberry juice she had asked for. As she set on the sofa, she scanned the place where she would now be living. Everything was beautiful, but two things caught her eye: family portraits of a man and his wife standing with the grandfather, and next to them, a portrait of a breathtakingly beautiful girl. She felt she had seen that girl in the white dress before, perhaps when she was searching for information about Jaguar, though she hadn't paid any attention to his family back then. Could it be his mother in her youth?
A voice behind her startled her. She turned to see the grandfather walking slowly with his cane, having just handed his coat and hat to the butler. His face lacked any warmth as he said,
- So, you have arrived at last.
But Fati didn't see a cold or mysterious man. She only saw an exhausted old man returning from the saddest place, a place that reminded him of the loved ones who had left him all alone with a child to raise. Standing up, she rushed to him with a genuine smile and hugged him warmly, saying:
- Grandfather, I have finally met you!
The grandfather never expected that hug; he trembled in her arms. No one had hugged him like that except his late daughter, and since she passed away, he had forgotten the feeling of being held. But his mind quickly pulled him back; this girl was the daughter of his enemy, and he couldn't let his guard down. He pushed her away, saying,
- Stay away from me! I don't like hugs.
Fati realized right then why Jaguar was the way he was; the cub takes after the lion. But she refused to back down. Deep down, she knew the grandfather's heart was like her own grandfather's heart. She hadn't been able to soften her father or her husband, but she wouldn't give up on him. She had to make him love her and bridge the gap between their families. With a smile that no one could resist, she asked:
- Grandfather, are you feeling shy?
She took his hand to help him to his Armchair. Despite his resistance, her gentle, caring touch made him soften. She guided him slowly to his seat, sat him down, and placed a pillow behind his back. For the first time, he felt a strange comfort in that armchair, it wasn't the softness itself, but the warmth of finally feeling someone's care after all these years of loneliness.
Fati set on the sofa beside him, facing the family portraits. She started talking, while the grandfather began questioning her about her father, cleverly trying to get information about his rival. But she replied simply,
- I don't know anything about him. He has been living away from us with my mother and siblings for years, and I have been living with my grandfather ever since.
The grandfather was stunned by how a father could abandon his daughter like that, but what puzzled him even more was the mother, how could a mother's heart let her leave her child?
- That is not surprising for your father,
He said coldly.
- He is a stone hearted man.
Fati felt uncomfortable; she didn't know enough about her father to defend him, so she decided to change the subject. She took out a gift of pen and said with a smile,
- Grandfather, I brought you a gift. Jaguar picked it out for you.
The grandfather's eyes darkened with curiosity.
- Jaguar? Were you shopping together?
- Yes, and he insisted on this specific this pen as a gift, promising that you would love it.
- So, he has started going to the markets and taking walks with you, too?
There was a hidden meaning in his words that she didn't understand. Moving on, she took a piece of biscuit from her bag, opened it, and offered it to him, saying,
- And this one... I picked this out myself.
The grandfather tried to refuse, but Fati quickly popped the biscuit into his mouth. Just then, her phone rang. It was her grandfather checking on her. She asked the grandfather,
- It's my grandfather. May I answer?
He nodded as he chewed the biscuit, enjoying the taste. Fati stepped aside and answered,
- Yes, Grandfather, I'm fine. I'm sitting with Jaguar's grandfather, chatting.
She smiled and ask:
- Do you miss me?
Her grandfather's voice came through with excitement:
- Give him the phone. I want to talk to Jaguar's grandfather.
Fati covered the mouthpiece and said shyly,
- Grandfather, my grandfather wants to speak with you.
The grandfather reached out after swallowing the pice of the biscuit and took the phone.
- I'm here,
He said firmly.
- What do you want?
Her grandfather replied:
- Finally, I've managed to reach you. It's been twenty years since I last saw you.
- Do you mean twenty one years?"
The grandfather corrected him.
He gestured for Fati to step away so she wouldn't hear the details of the call. She walked away quietly and stood before the portrait of the girl in the white dress, looking at it with hopeful eyes, praying that this call would finally be the beginning of peace.
Through the phone line, Fati's grandfather's voice came out low and heavy, as if he were pulling words from under the rubble of many long years, addressing Jaguar's grandfather alone:
- Listen to me closely, and do not dare to hang up this time. I will finally reveal to you the secret of your daughter that I have tried to speak about over and over again all these years, but you always slammed the door in my face, refusing to listen.
Jaguar's grandfather froze in his place; his absolute silence was a sign of deep seated terror. Then, he said in a trembling voice:
- Say what you have to say.
- You know that I forced my son to marry your daughter, Rosie, even though I was certain his heart belonged to another woman. The marriage took place by force, but my son had no mercy on his bride; Rosie remained a stranger in his heart. When Rosie begged me to let her return to you, I brought her back to you, but you did not embrace her and sent her back to the hell of our home once again!
Jaguar's grandfather interrupted him, his voice filled with deadly remorse:
- I know I was wrong... Do not remind me of a sin that is killing me with every passing moment!
But the other man did not stop; he continued in a ruthless tone:
- I am not talking about the sins of the past... I am telling you what happened on that fateful night. Rosie was six months pregnant when my son dropped the bombshell in our house; he brazenly told us that his mistress was also pregnant by him! My anger exploded; I ask him go out from my house and declared then that I would disinherit him of every penny.
At that moment, Jaguar's grandfather looked up, staring with a mixture of disgust and pain at Fati, who was still standing before Rosie's portrait, turning back to look at him with her bright, innocent smile, her back to the painting. He continued speaking into the phone, seeing in Fati's face a reflection of all the sins of the past:
- I can now see the seed of that forbidden affair standing before me... I see it clearly.
Fati's grandfather replied sternly through the phone:
- You don't understand anything! Let me finish.
- Fine... but quickly, because I'm starting to feel faint from digging up this buried past.
- That night, my son went up the stairs, furious at his wife Rosie, refusing to let her be the chain that stopped him from leaving with his mistress. Before he could reach her, she was so terrified that she lost her balance and fell down the stairs. I rushed to her, carried her in my arms, and screamed at my son to take her to the hospital immediately!
His voice trembled as he continued the tragedy:
- But I couldn't save Rosie. She miscarried, but they managed to save the baby a tiny thing like a piece of flesh and put her in an incubator. I was told she died, but the doctor called my son without my known and told him the truth about the baby girl, who hadn't died, under the name 'Fati' he registered, attributing her to his mistress as a mother, not his real wife Rosie. As for the mistress, she gave birth six months later to a boy, and my son registered them both with the same date as twins, changing her real birth date just to pressure me into accepting his mistress as his official wife.
Jaguar's grandfather stood there stunned, as if struck by lightning. He looked intensely at Fati, then compared her features to the girl in the portrait on the wall; suddenly, the subtle resemblance became a glaring truth. Her grandfather's voice came through the phone like a final bullet:
- She is your granddaughter, Rosie's daughter. You can verify it with a DNA test.
The phone dropped from Jaguar's grandfather's hand. He reached out into the air toward Fati, whispering weakly with a mix of shock and love:
- Fati... Fati.
Fati didn't realize the gravity of what had been heard. She was shocked to see the phone fall and rushed to pick it up, only to find the grandfather collapsing with all his weight onto her, his soul seemingly leaving his body from the shock.