He glanced toward Luis.
"And sometimes courage is simply refusing to look away."
Luis lowered his head, smiling.
Andrés raised his glass.
"To Clara."
Everyone lifted their glasses.
I looked around the table.
At Lucía.
At Luis.
At Andrés.
At people who had witnessed one of the worst moments of my life and chosen not to treat me as a spectacle.
I stood.
"Thank you," I said.
My voice trembled.
"I spent a long time believing that keeping the peace meant staying quiet."
I paused.
"That night, I learned something different."
The room was still.
"Sometimes peace begins when you finally say no."
We drank together.
And for the first time since that terrible dinner, the sound of glasses touching didn't make me flinch.
Later, as Lucía and I prepared to leave, Andrés handed me a small envelope.
"There's one more thing."
I opened it.
