Ch. 20: Where We Begin

The morning came in grey and quiet, the way it always did before everything changed.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Nina said. "I'm asking you to listen." Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

"You shouldn't have come," he said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all.

Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to. Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

She thought of all the versions of herself she might have been, and wondered which one he saw.

Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Nina said. "I'm asking you to listen."

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Nina said. "I'm asking you to listen." "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Nina said. "I'm asking you to listen."