"Amelia, are you alright?" Sergio insisted.

The silence in the room became suffocating. Amelia felt as if she were running out of air, her mind spinning in a whirlwind of memories and emotions. Manuela, for her part, seemed to have lost all color in her face, her eyes fixed on Amelia with a mixture of terror and pleading.

Sergio, confused by the sudden tension, looked from one to the other, his brow furrowed in concern.

"Do you two know each other? Do you know my cousin?" he asked, his voice cu