He looked up.
Amina squeezed his hand.
“Anyone can love someone when everyone applauds. The real test is whether you can remain honest and respectful when other people disagree with your choices.”
She paused.
“But remember something else, my son. You cannot prove your love by destroying yourself. You must build a life in which both of you can stand with dignity.”
Those words stayed with him.
That evening, Raúl called his sisters and asked them to meet him.
Nadia arrived first, still convinced she had acted in his best interests. Fatou followed, quieter but equally defensive.
Raúl didn’t shout.
He didn’t insult them.
He simply told them what their words had done.
“You didn’t just criticize my decision,” he said. “You humiliated a woman who had done nothing but treat us with kindness. You made her feel that her age had erased her right to be loved.”
