I returned home that afternoon with a calmness that even I didn’t understand.

Laura and Esteban were in the kitchen eating pizza.

Paid with my card, most likely.

“Where were you?” Laura asked without looking up much.

—Fixing some things.

Nothing else.

I went up to my room.

I closed the door.

And I called my lawyer.

“I need to do three things today,” I told him.

The first one was simple.

Change all the locks in the house .

The second one was more important.

Modify the legal ownership of the home .

The house would no longer be in my name.

She would go on to work for an animal rescue foundation she had been collaborating with for years.

I would still live there.

But legally, the property would belong to the shelter.

The third thing was to prepare something else.

A legal notice.

Because Laura and Esteban were not invited.

They were squatters without a contract .

And I was done with them.

That night I went down to the living room.

“We need to talk,” I said.

Laura rolled her eyes.

—Are you bringing up the dog again?

I placed the phone on the table.

And I played the video from Doña Rosa’s camera.

Silence filled the room.

On the screen, Esteban could be seen dragging Hercules.

Laura opened her mouth.

—That… that’s not what it looks like.

—Of course it is.

“That dog was a problem!” he shouted. “The house was filthy, Roberto. We were thinking about your recovery.”

—My recovery?

I felt my heart beating strongly.

—They dumped him on a road to die.

Esteban got up.

—Hey, calm down…

“No,” I said in a voice I didn’t even recognize. “You’re going to calm down.”

I took out an envelope.

I left it on the table.

—They have forty-eight hours to leave.

Laura laughed.

—Leave? Roberto, this house is family too.

Then I said something that completely changed his expression.

—The house is no longer mine.

-That?

—Now it belongs to the Esperanza Animal Shelter .

Laura blinked.

—That’s impossible.

—I signed the papers today.

Esteban took the document.

He read it.

Her face changed.

—Are you serious?

-Completely.

I moved a little closer.

—And the foundation has a very clear policy.

I paused.

—People who abandon animals… cannot live on their properties.

Laura was pale.

—Are you kicking out your own sister?

I stared at her.

—You threw my son onto a highway.

The silence was absolute.

Two days later, their suitcases were at the door.

I didn’t argue anymore.

I didn’t scream.

I just watched them leave.

That afternoon I drove to the shelter.

Hercules was lying down with his leg bandaged.

When he saw me, he raised his head.

And it wagged its tail again.

“Let’s go home, giant,” I said.

That night we went back together.

The garden was empty again.

But now it felt different.

More relaxed.

Hercules walked slowly to his favorite spot under the tree.

He lay down.

Sigh.

And for the first time in a long time…

The house felt like home again.