I won't allow her to destroy her life or anyone else's any longer.

"Get in bed and try to get some sleep," I tell her.

"What's going to happen now?" she croaks.

"Now, you are going to sleep," I answer flatly. "And when you wake up, you will start fresh."

She looks relieved but hesitant. Regardless, her exhaustion wins out, and she does as I ask, pulling back the covers and curling up to sleep. For a long while, I remain in the chair, unmoving. Frozen by the understanding of what it is I must do. I can't have her in my house any longer. I can't have her under the same roof as my wife and my future children because it will be impossible to protect them both. Mercedes has made her bed, and now she must lie in it.

It is the hardest decision I have ever had to make when I drag my phone from my pocket and dial a familiar number.

He answers on the third ring, greeting me by my first name.

"I'm ready," I tell him. "I need it to happen now.”

Three hours later, Mercedes stirs from her sleep, gasping for air as she bolts upright, clutching the blankets to her chest. She seems to sense the danger lurking in the corner of the room, and her eyes move to the dark figure sitting opposite me in the shadows. Watching. Waiting for her.

“Santi?” she whispers, her eyes moving back to me. “What’s going on?”

I rise from my seat on rigid legs, steeled by my retreat back into numbness.

“You are dangerous,” I tell her. “And you have proven that I can’t trust you. Not in my home. Not in my life. And now, there is only one solution that can save you.”

Her eyes move to the figure again, widening with fear as she begins to shake her head. “No. You can’t send me away. You can’t!”

“It’s done.” I tear my gaze away from her, breathing fire into my lungs as I nod to Judge.

He steps forward from the shadows, and Mercedes scrambles from the bed, prepared to fight. To flee. But for one split second, her eyes connect with his, and she pauses, almost… relieved. It doesn’t last. She’s bolting for me when Judge intercepts her, capturing her around the waist. Within seconds, he has her arms pinned behind her back as she screams for me, her desperation clawing at the last shred of my sanity.

“Santi, please don’t do this!”

“Go,” Judge tells me. “Leave, Santiago. I will handle this.”

I look at him and then at my sister. Our eyes connect for one last fleeting glance. In mine, she can see the anguish I tried to avoid, and even now, after everything, she tries to exploit it.

“You won’t do this to me. I know you won’t.”

“It’s already done.”