Gemotions

The flickering candlelight illuminated the grainy photographs spread across the table. Maria stared at the images, her breath catching in her throat. Her great-grandmother, a woman she'd been told was a victim, was in charge, the ringleader of something unspeakable.

She felt a cold dread creep into her bones. The carefully constructed stories of her family, their struggles and sacrifices, were revealed as a grotesque lie. She had placed all of her trust in people who were not what they seemed.

She closed her eyes, the images burned into her memory. She took a drink. She could not speak. The shame was suffocating.

She felt like she had been lied to, all of her life. She wished she had never found those photos.