“You’ve gone crazy.” Rebecca's voice cracked with disbelief and outrage breaking the silence. “Renounce your family because of a man? Are you so unbalanced you’ll even abandon me? What about your sister? Your father and I—you call that nothing?” She shook her head as she stood, hands shaking. “I’ll pay off every cent he thinks he’s owed. You’ll come home. You hear me? You’ll come back and stay — until I find you a husband worthy of you.”

Valentina’s lips ...