The Blackwood family business had been passed down from my grandfather's generation, but it truly flourished under his leadership.
In his youth, he sacrificed his health for work. As the years went by, his condition worsened until he eventually needed a liver transplant and long-term immunosuppressants just to survive.
During those difficult years, Nana never left his side.
She supported him through everything—managing affairs when he was too weak, holding the family together when things were falling apart.
But in the end…
He didn't make it.
He passed away a few years before Nana took me in after my father's death.
Back then, Nana was drowning in grief.
She barely spoke.
Barely ate.
Barely lived.
And then I arrived.
I didn't fix anything.
I didn't heal her.
But somehow… I understood her silence.
Maybe it was because I was just as broken.
Two lonely people learning how to exist in the same space.
