Liana's smile vanished in an instant. The world around her seemed to crumble, as if the ground opened beneath her feet, swallowing her into an abyss of despair. Her heart, which just moments ago had been beating with the sweet anticipation of hopeful news, was now broken, crushed under the weight of pain. Tears began to well up in her eyes, but with an almost superhuman effort, she managed to maintain her composure, clinging to the fragile armor of control she had built over the years.
"How...?" she stammered, unable to complete the question that was caught in her throat.
The lawyer sighed, but his voice lacked true empathy.
"Your father passed away a week ago. I came to inform you personally and to deliver some things he left for you."
The pain overwhelmed Liana, her body weakened, and she sank heavily into a chair. The mother superior, a silent witness to her suffering, approached and placed a hand on her shoulder, a gesture that, though well-intentioned, barely pierced the barrier of her pain.
"Why did he never visit me?" Liana asked in a broken whisper. "Why did he leave me here, alone?"
The lawyer, cold and distant, took a seat in front of her.
"Your father had a complicated life, Liana. He wanted to protect you from all that. He knew the convent would be a safe place for you. Although he didn't show it in the right way, he loved you and wanted the best for you."
The lawyer's words resonated in her mind like relentless blows. The tears finally broke the dam, sliding down her cheeks, and with them, years of resentment, confusion, and repressed pain emerged with devastating force.
The lawyer, oblivious to the magnitude of her suffering, pulled an envelope from his briefcase and handed it to her.
"Your father left this for you."
Liana opened the envelope with trembling hands, fearing what she would find inside. The first words of the letter were a distant echo of the paternal warmth she remembered, but soon the tone changed, like a poison slowly spreading through her veins. The letter was nothing more than a sentence. Her father, in a final act of control from the grave, wished for Liana to marry Victor Rossi, a man she knew nothing about, but whom her father described as "honorable" and "protective."
Liana's heart raced, and the paper in her hands began to tremble as she gripped it with growing fury. How could her father, the man who was supposed to love her, betray her in this way? How could he bind her to a stranger, robbing her of her future, her freedom, her will? The lawyer, observing her reaction, leaned forward, his face a mask of false compassion.
"I know this is hard to take in, Liana," he said in a soft, almost paternalistic voice. "But your father wanted the best for you. Victor Rossi is a powerful man, capable of protecting you in a world that isn't safe for a woman alone."
The anger erupted within her, a storm that had been brewing for years, fueled by every moment of solitude, by every day she waited for a visit that never came. Liana stood up suddenly, her voice trembling with emotion.
"No," she said, with a firmness that surprised even herself. "I won't marry this Victor Rossi. I don't care what that letter says. My father had no right to decide that for me."
The lawyer frowned, clearly irritated by her defiance, but quickly composed himself, forcing a smile that never reached his eyes.
"I understand that this is shocking, Liana," he said condescendingly. "But consider the consequences of rejecting your father's last wish. Think about his legacy, about what he wanted for you. I advise you to think it over. After all, it's a decision that will change your life forever."
Liana remained silent, but the tension in the room was palpable, a taut string about to snap. The lawyer, though trying to maintain his composure, let slip a glint of threat in his gaze. He stood up slowly, adjusting the briefcase with a precise and controlled movement.
"Take your time," he said with barely concealed coldness. "But remember that your father trusted you to do the right thing. We will meet again soon."
The silence that followed his departure was deafening. Liana, with the letter still trembling in her hands, felt the weight of her father's words fall upon her like a slab, crushing what was left of her spirit. The pain consumed her completely, a pain so deep it seemed to tear at her soul. The tears continued to flow, but they were no longer just of sadness; they were of a disappointment so bitter that her heart shattered into a thousand pieces.
How could her father do this to her? How could he abandon her in that convent, leaving her alone, without an explanation, without even a visit? Her whole life she had waited for that reunion, that day when he would appear at the convent door and take her home, where everything would be as it was before. But that day never came. And now, instead of the love and answers she had longed for, all she received was an order, a sentence that bound her to a man she didn't know.
The pain soon gave way to something darker, more dangerous. The disappointment transformed into anger, an anger so intense it seemed to consume her from within. Liana gripped the letter tightly, crumpling the paper between her fingers as the fury boiled inside her. How dare her father make decisions about her life from the grave? How dare he think he could still control her, after abandoning her without a second thought?
The rage grew, filling every corner of her being, until she could no longer contain it.
She rose from the chair with a jolt, throwing the letter onto the table as if it were a contaminated object. The mother superior, who had been silent, was startled by Liana's sudden outburst.
"I won't do what he wanted," she declared with a determination that, though firm, still trembled under the weight of emotion. "I won't marry Victor Rossi. I won't allow my life to be decided by a man who abandoned me."
The mother superior looked at her, her eyes filled with surprise and concern.
"I want to take my vows as soon as possible," Liana took a deep breath, seeking strength within herself. "If my father decided that my life belonged to someone else, then I will decide that I belong to God."