In the weeks that followed, Laura began reclaiming pieces of her life. She attended special classes, chose her own clothes, read books her father had once forbidden, and walked freely in the shelter’s garden without anyone monitoring her every step. One afternoon, Valeria visited and told her softly, “Your past does not decide your future—you do.” For the first time since stepping into that clinic, Laura believed it. The road ahead would be long, and healing would come slowly, but she was no longer living under fear. Her story was no longer being controlled by someone else. For the first time, Laura was beginning to write her own.
