Luka's POV
“You’ll never understand what I’ve been through as a single mother,” Valeria said, her voice shaking but fierce. “You were the one who divorced me and threw me out. You were the one who told me you never wanted to see me again. And since then, I’ve just been trying to do what’s best for my son.”
“Valeria—”
“Do you know how lonely I felt during my pregnancy?” she cut me off, her words spilling out fast, jagged and unstoppable. “You think it’s easy being in a strange country with no one? No family. No friends. Just me and this baby growing inside me, kicking and turning, reminding me every day that I had no one to rely on but myself.”
Her eyes glistened, but she didn’t stop. “I used to talk to him when I couldn’t sleep; tell him stories so I wouldn’t go crazy. I told him abou
