Chapter 44 : Reality Bites

***Dear Diary,
His knife blade was poised to sever my throat while his other hand was cuffing and harshly touching my breasts. It stings. He was teasing me about my private parts. His hand ran down between my legs. He is the demon who lives in the mansion. And the demon was threatening me, saying, "I'll cut your throat if you tell anyone what we're doing." He is the demon in the house.***
Angela's heart wrenched as she abruptly shut the diary, her voice shattered and unable to utter another word. The weight of the demon's cruelty, just as Esmeralda had experienced, descended upon her, and tears streamed down her cheeks, mirroring the anguish hidden within the pages.
The intensity of the moment heightened as Leonardo, his teeth clenched in a display of fierce determination, demanded to know the name of the malevolent entity Esmeralda had written about.
Angela, returning to the first page with a venomous hiss, revealed the bitter truth—Esmeralda had not disclosed the demon's name, leaving them grappling with an unsettling mystery.
With a commanding tone, Leonardo insisted that Angela turn to the next page, desperate to unearth any trace of the demon's identity. As Angela complied, her gaze fell upon unexpected content—a light-hearted entry celebrating Esmeralda's birthday, radiating a sense of contentment and joy. It spoke of Leonardo's thoughtful gift—a teddy bear adorned with a pink ribbon, a testament to his understanding of her preference for the color pink. In those words, Esmeralda's affection for Leonardo was evident, filling the air with a bittersweet tenderness.
Leonardo remained silent, his emotions held in check, as Angela continued to read the following pages.
The entry that followed painted a picture of Leonardo's generosity and the love he shared with Esmeralda. A glimmer of a smile brightened his face, a response to the warmth conveyed through Esmeralda's words. Angela, witnessing this subtle transformation, felt a surge of relief within her own heart.

With a mixture of trepidation and curiosity, Angela turned to the next page, embarking on a new chapter of Esmeralda's tale.
***Dear Diary,
Today has been an emotionally challenging day for me. I have been grappling with feelings of sadness and despair. It all started when I observed Leonardo, forming a new connection with someone named Lara. They seemed to share a deep sense of comfort and happiness in each other's company. Witnessing their joyful interaction, my heart sank, and I was overcome with immense pain. It felt as if Leonardo had completely forgotten about our friendship, finding contentment in the presence of another girl.
Overwhelmed by these emotions, I hurriedly retreated to the solace of my room, seeking refuge from the world. As I closed the door behind me, I was surprised to find Uncle Carlos seated on my bed. His gentle presence offered a glimmer of comfort amidst my turmoil. He tenderly touched my cheek and whispered, as if to provide solace and reassurance.***
Angela paused her reading and asked Leonardo, "Who is Carlos?" sensing the significance of his role in Esmeralda's life. The room fell silent as Leonardo, lost in deep contemplation, gripped the blanket tightly in his hands, causing it to crumble. The rage within him was palpable as he uttered the words, his voice cracking with raw emotion, "Carlos is my father."
Angela was taken aback by Leonardo's words, causing her ears to tense up. A torrent of questions flooded her mind, demanding answers. What was he doing there? And why was he tenderly caressing Esmeralda's cheek? The mere thought of the possible truth sent waves of unease through Angela's stomach. These revelations were far from what she had anticipated finding in a diary. Diaries typically contained cherished memories and life's beauty, things one would want to hold onto until the end.
But Esmeralda's diary turned out to be a confession or a narrative of her teenage years, filled with unhappiness and abuse. The gravity of this revelation hit Leonardo hard, especially considering that his father played a role in Esmeralda's story.
"Keep reading," he urged, his voice brimming with a mix of eagerness and anger
The next page had suffered severe damage, rendering it unreadable. Both Angela and Leonardo felt frustrated by their curiosity about what Carlos Vera had been involved in with Esmeralda in her pink room. However, the message had been clear to Leonardo: his father was the sinister figure in the mansion, as Esmeralda had stated on the first page.
Silence engulfed them, hindering any progress in their discovery. Leonardo seethed with anger over his father's actions towards Esmeralda. Angela gazed at the silent Leonardo, longing to say something, but her voice seemed to retreat deep into her stomach, leaving her speechless. She worried about how Leonardo would react upon learning the truth about his father.
The door swung open, revealing Mrs. Vera as she entered the room. Her eyes glanced at Angela and Leonardo, then fixated on Esmeralda's diary held in Angela's hands.
"That's Esmeralda's diary," Mrs. Vera exclaimed. "Give it to me, Angela." She approached Angela, aiming to take the diary, but Leonardo intervened firmly. "Don't touch the diary, Mom," Leonardo asserted.
Confused, Mrs. Vera asked, "Why not, Leonardo?" Leonardo responded, "Finders keepers. Angela is the sole keeper of Esmeralda's diary."
However, Mrs. Vera had her reasons for wanting the diary. Her anxious eyes and expression conveyed her desire to possess it. "Please, give me the diary, Angela," she pleaded.
Leonardo questioned her, "Why are you so interested in getting Esmeralda's diary, Mom?" Despite Mrs. Vera's attempts, she couldn't provide a satisfactory explanation to Leonardo. She simply mentioned wanting to keep it for Esmeralda, but Leonardo remained unconvinced, noticing her fidgety hands.
As the night grew colder, Angela's face and ears burned with tension. The atmosphere was thick with unease.
Leonardo insisted that Angela read the page where his father's name was mentioned. Angela hesitated briefly before slowly reading it aloud for Mrs. Vera. Upon hearing what her husband had been doing in Esmeralda's room, Mrs. Vera suddenly burst into tears, her hands resting on her cheeks. She leaned against the wall for support, her face pale with devastation.
Leonardo's voice took on a somber and lifeless tone as he asked, "Do you have any idea about Dad sneaking into Esmeralda's room, Mom?"
Mrs. Vera turned her gaze towards her son, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her silence spoke volumes, revealing that she had been aware of her husband's actions all along. It was clear that he had been taking advantage of Esmeralda behind Leonardo's back. "I want to leave your father, but I can't even broach the subject with him," she sobbed, her tears intensifying. "The least I could do was to keep my distance from him. I dreaded to think what he had done to Esmeralda."
Her words came out amidst her sobs. "But he asked for forgiveness for what he did to Esmeralda, Leonardo."
"Did he ask forgiveness from Esmeralda, Mom?" Leonardo's jaw clenched.
Another silence followed before Mrs. Vera uttered her final words, her voice trembling. "He promised, but..."
"But what, mother?" Leonardo's anger ignited.
"Three days after our confrontation, they found Esmeralda dead," she broke down again, consumed by guilt.
Angela's heart sank further, an overwhelming sense of unease washing over her. She could empathize with the immense pain that Esmeralda had endured in her short life. As she glanced at Leonardo's weeping mother, she felt as if her own heart had shattered alongside hers.
"It's late at night, Mother," Leonardo broke the heavy silence, his voice filled with exhaustion. "We all need to get some rest."
Angela held onto Esmeralda's diary as Mrs. Vera left the room, still crying. She told Leonardo to go to his room, and he obeyed, walking away alone with his cane.
Unable to sleep, Angela couldn't stop thinking about the events of the evening. She hesitated to open the pink diary again. Eventually, exhaustion took over, and she fell asleep around four in the morning.
Suddenly, a loud crash woke Angela from her sleep. She blinked in the bright daylight, shielding her eyes. To her surprise, the pink book lay on the floor. A chill ran down her spine as she realized that she had placed the diary beneath the mirror, and it seemed impossible for it to end up on the floor without anyone disturbing it.