An elderly man of 89 felt insulted when he requested a basic sandwich at a café. Stunned, a prosperous woman spotted something on his wrist and went still. As she approached and recognized what it was, her expression turned vacant, and she was utterly…

Emanuele was with her, and—I never knew exactly what happened. He was gone, and the only thing that remained was this watch. His eyes fixed on the accessory in Isabella’s hands, as if it were the last physical connection he had with his son.

Isabella closed her eyes for a moment, trying to hold back her tears. She had been there that day, the day of the accident, the day everything changed. The memory was an open wound that never fully healed.

I was with him, she confessed, finally breaking the silence. We were heading to a friend’s house together, but we never arrived. The car—there was an accident.

It all happened so fast. When I woke up, he was already gone. The tears she had been holding back finally fell, and she covered her face with her hands, allowing herself to sink into the pain of that moment.

Giuseppe watched her, equally moved, his own tears silently streaming down the wrinkles of his weary face. I never knew, Giuseppe whispered, his voice broken by pain and regret. I never knew you were with him.

Isabella shook her head, trying to control her emotion. I loved him with all my heart, she said, and I lost everything that day. She had tried to move on, but the past had always lurked, while Giuseppe had sunk deeper into sadness and regret, until his life was reduced to what she saw now—an old, tired man trying to survive the ruins of his losses.

I can’t believe it, Giuseppe murmured, shaking his head slowly. You were the woman he loved, and I—I never knew how much that meant to him. Isabella quickly wiped her tears, struggling to maintain her composure.

I didn’t know he was your son until now, but seeing the watch—it all came back, all the memories. He always wore this watch, the gift I gave him when we started making plans for the future. She looked at Giuseppe, who seemed lost in his own thoughts, his eyes fixed on the past.

He spoke little about you, Giuseppe continued, almost in a whisper, but I knew something was pulling him away from us. Victoria, my wife. She never accepted the idea of Emanuele being with someone not from our level.

She always wanted him to marry someone from society, someone who could elevate our position. His voice trembled, full of guilt and sadness. Isabella nodded, understanding perfectly.

She hated me. Whenever I tried to get close, I felt her disdain. And Emanuele, trying to please everyone, was caught between two realities.

He was a good man, Giuseppe. He wanted to make everyone happy, but it tore him apart. Giuseppe took a deep breath, his hands trembling slightly on the table.

I never imagined it would be this way. After he was gone, Victoria and I grew even further apart. She blamed herself, and deep down, I think she blamed me too.

That’s when everything started to crumble. Isabella looked at Giuseppe with deep empathy. And how did you end up here? She asked softly, as if each word needed to be carefully chosen to avoid reopening wounds.

Giuseppe let out a deep sigh, the weight of his story making his shoulders slump even more. After Emanuele died, Victoria, she was never the same. She sank into grief, and I, well, I lost my footing too.

Our marriage couldn’t withstand it. The guilt and mourning drove us apart, and I ended up distancing myself from everything. We had a comfortable life, but the emptiness he left was unbearable.

Victoria always blamed me, Giuseppe said, his voice choked. She would say that if I had been firmer with Emanuele, he would have chosen another path, stayed away from you. And I, in my weakness, believed for a long time that she was right.

Hearing this, Isabella felt a heavy weight in her chest. It wasn’t easy for her to hear that Victoria saw her as the reason for the family’s collapse. Giuseppe, she said gently, it wasn’t your fault.

It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Sometimes, life takes us down paths we can’t foresee or control. What happened, was an accident.

But the love Emanuele had for you and for me, that love was real. None of this can be diminished by accusations.

Giuseppe looked at Isabella with tear-filled eyes, clearly touched by her words. I never thought I would meet you one day, that I would discover who the woman my son loved truly was…