Chapter 15 – The Birthday
Sara turned twenty-one six months after the trip.
Lucia remembered because the bakery’s scheduling system still had her date of birth.
At closing time, Lucia found herself staring at Sara’s old employee profile.
Active status: suspended.
Not terminated.
Nobody had wanted to press the final button.
Matteo came to the bakery that afternoon.
He had stopped coming regularly.
“What are you doing tonight?” Lucia asked.
“Nothing.”
She knew why.
Neither said happy birthday.
Matteo took out his phone.
Sara’s last voice message was still saved.
He did not play it.
“I keep thinking about one line.”
Lucia waited.
“Don’t make things worse.”
He looked at her.
“What if she actually meant it?”
Lucia frowned.
“What?”
“What if she really wanted me to stop?”
“And?”
“What if all of us decided we knew better than her?”
Lucia understood the cruelty of the question.
If Sara had been coerced, obeying the message meant abandoning her.
If she had not been coerced, refusing to believe it meant refusing her choice.
That uncertainty was exactly where control worked best.
Matteo put his phone away.
“I don’t know which version makes me feel worse.”
