“Maybe in your own weak way.

But I won’t spend a life competing with your fear of your mother and your family’s hunger for my money.” She stood.

“Sign the papers, Emiliano.”

She meant the thing about his fear precisely, and it was, she thought, the closest she would ever come to being fair to him.

She did believe he had been afraid of Leticia.

She had seen enough of that family to understand that Emiliano had been raised by a woman who ruled through fear and favor, who had taught her son from the cradle that love was conditional and safety came from obedience.