Chapter 10: A Decision in the Dark
TERESA'S P.O.V.
Two days after the explosive confrontation with my father, I heard a soft but persistent knock at my apartment door. I opened it to find Luke standing there, looking more worried than I had ever seen him—his brow furrowed, eyes wide with confusion, and a slight tremor in his hands as if they were trying to grasp onto something solid.
"Teresa...," Luke said, his voice shaky, "I—I don't know what to do. Everything's falling apart. The house, my inlaws home for over twenty years, they're booking it for demolition. They're saying the government wants the land... but why now? Why so suddenly? It doesn't make any sense."
His voice cracked, and he ran a hand through his hair, which had grown a little too long and unkempt from stress.
"And the bakery..." he continued, pacing back and forth in my small living room, "Mom's bakery... The building owner suddenly wants to sell it to the government. Just like that. They're going to shut it down, Tess! All those years of work, gone!"
I stood there, watching my older brother break down, his face red, his eyes glassy. Luke, the one who always kept it together, always held me up—he was unraveling before me.
"Luke, please sit," I said softly, leading him to the couch. I knew why this was happening. My father. He was behind it all. He had warned me that if I didn't agree to his ridiculous terms, Luke would pay the price. And now... I was watching it unfold. But I couldn't tell Luke that. No, that would only make things worse.
"I'm sure... there's a way out of this," I said, forcing a smile that I hoped was more convincing than it felt. "You know how these things work. They'll sort it out. It's probably just... a mix-up."
Luke dropped his face into his hands, rubbing at his temples. "I don't know, Tess. I've never felt so... helpless. Like everything's slipping through my fingers."