Now I understood that she had mistaken my money for an unlimited supply of obedience.
“Those girls are a threat,” she hissed.
“They’re children.”
“They’re your children, Adrian! Do you understand what this means? What people will say?”
I looked at her.
“What people say is no longer my concern.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You cannot be serious.”
“I am.”
I walked away before she could respond.
Near the stage, Marianne was speaking with a competition official.
Chloe and Sophie stood beside her.
Up close, the resemblance was even more striking.
Chloe had my habit of tilting her head when she was concentrating.
Sophie had the same small crease between her eyebrows that appeared whenever I was trying to solve a difficult problem.
I had seen those expressions in the mirror for most of my life.
Now they belonged to two girls who had grown up without knowing me.
I stopped several feet away.
