The moment the dwelling was completed, Lara fetched Grandmother Arlina and her grandchildren from the village. When the old woman saw the house that they were moving into, she could not help but tear up.
The house was modest by modern standards, but to Arlina, it was nothing short of a palace. The moment her clouded eyes landed on the structure—its freshly woven cogon roof, its tiny front yard bordered by a low, hand-carved fence, and the neat row of homes it was nestled among—her lips trembled.
Tears welled in her eyes. "Young lady... Are you sure we can stay here?" she asked, her voice catching on the edge of disbelief.
"Yes, Grandma," Lara replied, her voice soft but certain. She hadn't expected such a powerful reaction, not from the stoic woman who had survived so much, nor from the two teenage girls and their younger brother, who stood silently behind her with wide, guarded eyes.
