“You will become whatever you want,” I said.
Sylvia entered Maria’s office and saw us. She smiled.
“Heaven would be happy,” he whispered.
Peter arrived later. When he heard the news, he was silent for a long time, then said:
– So finally… something good happened.
Maria looked at him.
“Good things don’t just happen,” he said. “Someone does it.”
Peter nodded and looked at me.
“You did it, Nikola,” he said.
I shook my head.
“We,” I said. “All of us.”
We returned home late in the evening. To the small apartment we had bought on credit, which no longer looked like a cage.
Mila put a package of sweets on the table. The same ones as those.
“I bought them,” he said. “With my own money. From savings.”
I looked at her.
“Why?” I asked.
Mila smiled.
“For mom,” he whispered. “And for you. So you can remember where it all began.”
We sat down and shared the candies. Not because they were the tastiest. But because they had a story in them that didn’t hurt so much anymore.
Before falling asleep, Mila looked at me and said:
– Nikola?
“Yes?” I asked.
“If it weren’t for you… I would have become like them, wouldn’t I?” he whispered. “I would have thought that everything could be bought.”
I looked at her and took a breath.
“No,” I said. “You would have found light again. But… maybe it would have been harder for you.”
Mila nodded.
“I will be the light,” he whispered. “I promise.”
I smiled.
“Me too,” I said. “I promise.”
When she fell asleep, I stayed awake for a moment and remembered the first night. The thin, pale figure, the package of candy, the tears, and that “mom is dying” thing.
I remembered how Kalin fired me. How I thought the end had come.
And actually… that was the beginning.
The beginning of a truth:
Humanity is not a weakness.
It is a choice.
And sometimes one choice can save a life.
And to make the ending… good.
