Chapter 62

• Kaemon sat across from the man who once had the power to terrify him. His father, Hugo Alvaro, now looked small in his prison jumpsuit, broken and diminished by the years spent behind bars. This was the first time Kaemon had seen him in thirteen years. The last time they were face to face had been in court, when Kaemon testified against him. Back then, Hugo’s cold, menacing stare had still carried weight. Now, all Kaemon saw was a frail man—empty, pathetic, a shell of the monster he once knew.
• Hugo was the first to speak, his voice rough and hoarse from years of shouting in a prison yard or, more likely, isolation. “Thirteen years,” Hugo rasped, shaking his head. “It took you thirteen years to visit your father.”
• Kaemon's eyes hardened, his jaw clenched, but he stayed calm, cold. “You were never my father,” he said, his voice low and measured. “Not once. You don’t get to sit there and act like you were.”