In the evening, Adán Rouco and Estre Berrocal were having dinner in the living room.


    Suddenly Fresco Rouco arrives, and Estre Berrocal puts a piece of roast pork in Adán Rouco’s mouth, which makes Estre Berrocal blush.


    However, Adam Rouco, ever indifferent, feels no emotion, but puts down his fork and says to Fresco Rouco, “Uncle, what brings you here?”


    Fresco Rouco looked at them and said with a slight smile: “Adán, I havee to see you because there is something I want to tell you”.


    “What is it, second uncle?”


    “You…” Fresco Rouco looked at Estre Berrocal, “would you mind taking a walk with me?”


    It seemed that Uncle Segundo wanted to talk to him alone.


    Adán Rouco got out of bed, put on his clothes and said, “You eat first.”


    Estre Berrocal nodded, but did not forget to remember: “Hurry back, the food won’t be good if it gets cold”.


    Adán Rouco raised his hand and rubbed her hair: “Yes”.


    Adán Rouco followed Fresco Rouco out of the room and into the back garden of the hospital, Fresco Rouco was still frowning and hesitating to speak.


    Adán Rouco asked: “Tío Dos, what do you want, say it”.


    Fresco Rouco stopped dead in his tracks, a great tussle and tangle shed under his eyes, “Adam, I have thought about this matter for a long, long time, and rather than tell you through others, I thought it would be better if I told you myself.”


    “ountability?”


    When does a second uncle have to give an ount to a subordinate?


    Fresco Rouco, however, nodded solemnly, and only when the two went to a more secluded part of the garden, where no one entered or left, did Fresco Rouco take a deep breath and say, “Adam, Estre … she is my daughter. ”


    Adán Rouco froze for half a second and thenughed, “Man, that’s not a funny joke.”


    With that, he turned to leave, but Fresco Rouco continued, “I know you don’t believe me, but Estre’s mother, Juanisha Capistrán, was pregnant with my child.”


    Adam Rouco’s hand, hanging from his leg, tensed as he said coolly, “Still, how can Uncle Junior say that Estre is your daughter?”


    “I’ve sent someone to investigate, Stefano Berrocal is blood type A, and Juanisha Capistrán is also blood type A. But Estre’s blood type, is AB, which, I’m sure you know.”


    “?Y?” Adam Rouco’s fists, clenched tighter and tighter, his bones blue and white.


    Fresco Rouco looked at him and said: “I also have AB blood”.


    Adán Rouco remained still, silent for a long, long time.


    “In this world there are no such coincidences. When I first saw Estre, I always felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and affinity with her. Adam, it was all my doing then, I …”


    said Fresco Rouco, but with some embarrassment and guilt, he lowered his face and could say no more.


    Adán Rouco closed his eyes and remembered Estre saying that he had felt close to his second uncle when he met him.


    Could … Star really be the real daughter of the second uncle?


    And what were they…? Cousins?


    But they were already graduates and had been married for a long time, and even had a daughter between them.


    Adán Rouco could not believe that Estre Berrocal was his cousin when he thought of the lovely Paulita.


    Thinking about this, Adán Rouco went so far as to speak to Fresco Rouco in a cooler voice: “What do you mean by that?”


    “Adam, I…” Fresco Rouco wanted to say something else.


    However, Adán Rouco said in strong words: “Estre and I are already married, and no matter whose daughter she is, that will not erase the fact that she is my wife. If Uncle Two is here today to separate us or to im our daughter, I also tell him clearly that it is impossible.”


    “Adam, you misunderstand me, I have no intention of separating you, nor have I the right to separate you, I can keep this secret forever, but … I fear that paper cannot hold fire, this matter, if others know, will have repercussions for you and Estre …”


    “Uncle Segundo, as long as you keep this secret, the rest, it’s not for you to worry about. Estre is my wife, I will protect her”.


    With those words, Adán Rouco turned with a cold face and walked away.ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .


    Fresco Rouco looked at her cold back and couldn’t help but ask: “If … one day her life bes public and your rtionshipes to the forefront of public opinion, will you still be so protective of her if her birth is disclosed and your rtionshipes to the fore?”


    “Uncle Segundo, don’t forget that I’m not you, I’m not going to be with someone I don’t want for the rest of my life, so what I want, I will fight with all my might to protect.”


    Adán Rouco’s voice, very cold and subdued, was unusually firm and strong.


    Fresco Rouco smiled a somewhat sad but relieved smile: “You are braver and more powerful than me, I am the coward”.


    He had been a coward from start to finish.


    Then, for his family, for duty, he had given up thepanion he loved most in his life, and more than twenty yearster, he was still a coward; he was afraid even to recognize his own daughter.


    Fresco Rouco stood in thete afternoon sun, holding his cane, tears finally slipping from his eyes.


    …


    Estre Berrocal finished her dinner and looked at Adán Rouco’s portion, which waspletely cold when she touched it with her small hand.


    “Why aren’t you back yet?”


    Adán Rouco had left without his cell phone and Estre Berrocal was about to put on theforter and go out to look for it when Adán Rouco had already returned from outside.


    Estre Berrocal knelt on the bed, “Why did it take you so long to go, what was the big deal Uncle Two wanted to talk to you about?”


    “Men’s business”.


    Four simple words that made Estre Berrocal suddenly lose interest.


    Men’s business … it would bepany business, I think.


    “The food is getting cold, I’m going to heat it up for you.”


    She was about to get out of bed when Adán Rouco grabbed her wrist and pulled back, “No, I’m not hungry.”


    “But you’ve only eaten a few bites.”


    “I’m not hungry.”


    Adán Rouco held her down, but her arms tightened and Estre Berrocal, feeling his pressure, lifted her face to stare at him and said, “You’re weird.”


    Adam Rouco’s gaze was deep as he stared at her -Estre, are you really Uncle Junior’s real daughter?


    Estre Berrocal sniffed at him like a puppy and wrinkled her nose slightly, “You ran out to get a cigarette.”


    In his body there was a very marked odor of tobo.


    Adán Rouco’s nerves sank slightly and a perfectionist smile suddenly burst from the corner of his lips: “You got it”.


    “No wonder you didn’te back after being gone so long, so you’ve been sneaking out for a smoke.”


    It had been light outside when Adán Rouco had gone out, but now, it was dark.


    He hadn’t bothered to check the time, but the wait had been a long one, so …


    “How many cigarettes did you go out to smoke?”


    “A package.”


    “…”


    The corner of Estre Berrocal’s mouth twitched: “When did you be so addicted to tobo? A pack of cigarettes? Have you smoked them all?”.


    Adán Rouco said nothing, but Estre Berrocal was curious, “But …. where did you get the cigarettes, you didn’t have your phone or money with you, how did you buy them?”


    “I asked the hospital porter for a pack of Rubio.”


    “How could the doorman give you a pack of Rubio cigarettes?”


    “I promised him to give him back a BLUE one day.”


    Estre Berrocal: “…”