Chapter 17 - The Shattered Cane
I scrambled to my feet, using the counter to pull my aching body up, placing myself as a human shield between the monster and my grandchildren.
"You are a monster, Valeria!" I screamed, a primal, ferocious strength flooding my veins. "Look at what you are doing to your own flesh and blood! Starving them until they eat from a dog's bowl! I am going to tell Carlos everything!"
Hearing Carlos's name made her face twist into a mask of pure malice. She closed the distance between us, her breath hot and hateful against my face.
"You won't say a damn word, you senile old hag. Carlos believes me. I will tell him you are losing your mind, that you are hallucinating. Who will he believe? His wife, or a burden of a mother?"
Before I could react, Valeria reached out with terrifying speed, grabbed my wooden cane, and with a violent shriek, hurled it against the brick wall. The wood shattered with a sickening crack.
"I am in charge here!" she roared. "And you two, get upstairs now. If you want to eat like dogs, maybe you'll be treated like them tomorrow."
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As the boys fled, Leo looked back, his eyes deadened to the horror.
"Mom... is it kibble time again tomorrow?" he asked.
