Chapter 41

"Because I would rather not look like a poor person. I would rather not feel sorry for anyone. I didn't need that.

"But this is all too serious to have remained hidden. Our relationship could have started differently if you'd opened up to me.

She sighs and mentions lighting a cigarette. But she gives up and crosses her legs, her feet still stuck in the heels from hours ago.

"The truth is that I came to meet you with preconceptions. In fact, I have prejudices about everyone I meet. Maybe it's because life has hit me so hard. "I shrug. "I've become a skeptic. So I believed that you were just like your father, not just in appearance.

Brandon lowers his head. I think that, for him now, being compared to his father no longer sounds like a compliment.

"I had preconceptions about you too. And when you came looking for me and I was an adult... and had money, it only reinforced what I had established in my mind.

"If you want to know the truth, I wasn't even looking for you. I had a shi