Sofia's face twisted. "You're not angry. You're jealous."
Aleksandr nodded slowly. "Yes. Because you have something I never did. A reason."
He walked to the chair again.
Dmitry's lips moved. He said nothing. But the breath behind the words still carried strength.
Aleksandr leaned in close and whispered in his son's ear.
"You're not going to die today. But you are going to feel every piece of yourself fall away. You're going to feel what it means to carry love into a room full of knives."
Dmitry blinked once.
Aleksandr stepped back.
Sofia stopped fighting.
She fell silent.
Her knees hit the floor again, and she stayed there.
She didn't scream. She didn't cry anymore.
She just watched.
Aleksandr picked up the hammer again.
The next hit went to the ribs.
Then another to the collar.
The bone cracked.
Dmitry coughed blood onto the floor.
Sofia looked at the blood. Then at Aleksandr. Then back at Dmitry.
Her face lost color.
Her hands stopped moving.
