Mariana bent down to pick up the bills.
Not because she needed them, but because she didn’t want them to stain the pristine marble.
She carefully placed them on the edge of the trash can and said calmly,
“You should keep them. That money… you’re going to need it.”
Alejandro froze for a second.
There was no resentment in her tone.
Nor was there any pleading.
That calmness… unsettled him more than any reproach.
