—Said? —Valentina's voice sounded like glass breaking in an empty room.

He slowly turned his head. There they were. His four pillars. His four loves. Valentina, Akua, Sofía, and Anastasia stood, forming a semicircle near the mahogany wooden door. But they did not approach. There was no usual display of caresses, nor the relief of feeling their warm bodies against his own. There was a distance of three meters that felt like an ice desert.

SAID AND THE NEW WORLD (CHAPTER 496)