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Jarek Strong could not contain the fury burning inside him. The moment he heard his daughter Natalia mention Richard again, he felt his blood boil.

He looked at her sternly, his dark eyes reflecting a grudge he had been feeding for more than fifteen years. With venom on his tongue, he let out words he never thought he would have to say to his daughter.

"Don’t talk nonsense, Nat. The best thing that could happen is for that criminal to go back to prison and rot there," he said, his eyes sparking with rage. "He doesn’t deserve another chance."

Natalia, however, didn’t share his certainty. Something inside her kept her from condemning Richard so quickly. She frowned, her gaze fixed on her father, who didn’t understand. She responded calmly, but with the firmness of someone who had already made a decision.

"I’m not convinced of that, Dad. Richard said something I need to find out. I can’t live with the doubt," she answered steadily. "Maybe… the best thing is to give him a chance."

Jarek’s fury grew, as if his own daughter had struck him in the face. How could she, after everything that had happened, be willing to give that man a chance? The man who, in his eyes, had destroyed his world and their family.

"I can’t believe it!" he exclaimed, stepping toward her, his whole face twisted in anger. "Are you serious, Natalia? What more do you need to know? That man is a murderer. Georgie’s murderer! What you call a 'chance' is a joke."

Natalia stared at him, not moving an inch. Her gaze was so piercing that Jarek felt uncomfortable, as if she were examining him to the core. Her words, though firm, were soft, as though she was trying to explain herself without breaking into raw emotion.

"I understand what you’re saying, Dad. I understand that Richard is most likely responsible for Georgie’s death," Natalia said, her voice low but steady. "But I want to know why he did it. And you can’t forbid me from finding out."

Still boiling with anger, Jarek tried to reason with her, as if he still believed he could force her to change her mind. His tone was that of a man who felt he was losing control.

"This isn’t just about him. It’s about Georgie, the son we’ll never see again. What about that, Natalia? What about justice? Who’s going to fight for him? We can’t sit around while that criminal keeps playing with our lives."

Jarek clicked his tongue, searching for a way to bargain, to make her give up.

"Natalia, listen. I…"

But she raised her hand in the air, stopping him with a gesture more powerful than any word. She spoke in a tone firm yet filled with restrained pain, as if each word was a release of something she had carried for far too long.

"Don’t play the victim, Dad," she said, her voice barely trembling. "I was hidden away for so long because of you. Sedated, avoiding what I really felt. And though the pain of losing Georgie hasn’t disappeared, I can face it now. I don’t want to live in that darkness anymore. I don’t want to keep hiding."

Jarek fell silent, his breathing unsteady. He couldn’t deny the truth in her words, but the weight of his suffering was something he didn’t want to share. For a moment, he gave in to frustration and helplessness, unable to find middle ground. At last, he sighed and decided to ask his son Nathan to talk to his mother. Maybe he could do something.

Nathan, seeing the tension in his father’s face, stepped toward him with a calmer expression, as if ready to find a solution to ease things down.

"Don’t try to use me, Father," he said firmly. "I think the same as Mom."

Hearing that, Jarek grew even more enraged. He shot to his feet, cursing out loud.

"I don’t care if it was an accident or not!" he shouted. "Georgie is dead, and Richard Lerner is responsible! That doesn’t change, nothing changes!"

Nathan, without losing his composure, tried to calm the situation. His tone was softer, though his words carried a maturity that surprised Jarek.

"Dad, I’m tired of living with so much hate. I want a bright future with Suzanne." He took her hand as she walked into the room, carrying one of the twins. "I understand what you’re feeling, but we can’t keep living tied to this pain. We can’t live in shadows anymore."

At his grandson’s words, Jarek let out a frustrated huff. To him, all this was nonsense, a weakness he couldn’t comprehend.

"You’re weak!" he exclaimed, his voice full of resentment. "You can’t let that criminal keep staining our lives. He’s done enough already. And I’m the only one who still cares about the safety of this family."

Nathan, now standing firmer, replied with a calmness that surprised everyone.

"You don’t have to explain anything, Dad. I know what you did for this family wasn’t easy. But I’m not a child anymore. I understand how hard it was for you. But maybe, like Mom says, it’s time to let all of this go. It’s time to leave the past behind and move forward."

His words, though hard to accept, seemed to calm Jarek a little. His face was still marked by anger, but something inside him started to give way. Natalia, who had been silently watching, approached her father and gently took his arm. She leaned against him, as if the weight of all their years of suffering could ease with that small gesture. And then, in a soft voice, she asked him for what she needed to keep going.

"Dad, please, stop clinging to that painful grudge. It’s exhausting, and it’s time to move on. It’s time to build a future together."

Jarek felt a lump in his throat at her words. Georgie’s death, that wound that never healed, was the constant reminder of what he had lost. Seeing his daughter in that sanatorium, on the verge of being lost to madness… it had all been too much.

The burden had aged him in just a few years the way others age in two decades. But now, seeing his daughter before him, everything he had carried for so long seemed about to collapse.

He let out a deep sigh and, with a resigned voice, said:

"All right…" he murmured at last. "I’ll help you uncover the truth."

Natalia let out a squeal of joy and threw herself into his arms. Jarek received her with a gesture of affection, managing a smile that vanished almost instantly. His body tensed, and Natalia, sensing the change in him, pulled back in concern.

"Is everything okay, Dad?" she asked, frowning.

Jarek, with a strained smile, replied:

"Okay isn’t exactly the word. But I’ll use my power to investigate what happened fifteen years ago. And let’s be clear, I don’t expect to forgive that man. That, never."

Nathan, his eyes full of understanding, stepped closer to him and said:

"You don’t have to explain that. I know how hard it was for you. It was a huge responsibility, and I was just a kid. I didn’t carry the same weight. But Mom’s right, we need to let go of that burden."

The young man squeezed Suzanne’s hand, drawing strength from that gesture.

"I’m sure it’s what Georgie would want," he added. "I remember he was so sweet."

The words hit Jarek straight in the heart. His eyes filled with tears. He could barely hold his voice when he finally replied, broken:

"He really was the sweetest child of all."

A reverent silence wrapped them. Tears fell, unstoppable. Natalia joined the crying, and so did Nathan. The three of them embraced, as if that union could somehow bring back the six-year-old boy who had left them too soon.

In each of their memories, Georgie came alive again: his radiant smile, the way he ran through the garden, the sound of his laughter filling the house. Remembering him hurt, but it also gave them back a glimmer of hope, because even in his absence, he was still the bond that held them together.