I am Matteo. As a child, I believed my family was simple—fragile, perhaps, but filled with love and warmth. My parents, Clara and Lorenzo, seemed inseparable through my young eyes. Dad ran a small workshop in a quiet Tuscan village called Borgo San Vito, while Mom stayed home to care for me. I was their only child, and in my innocence, I thought our little world would last forever.

But one day, everything shattered like glass. Dad lost his job without warning. I didn’t fully grasp what that meant, but I noticed the change in him—his laughter faded, and silence settled over our home like a heavy fog. Though he found work again, money slipped through our fingers like autumn leaves blown by the wind. At night, I’d hear them fighting—Mom’s voice sharp, plates crashing, Dad’s silence growing louder. I would hide under the blankets, trembling, waiting for the storm to pass.