Chapter 12 - The Partnership
Clara agreed to meet Victor for dinner.
They discussed business.
They discussed strategy.
But they also discussed their pasts.
Their pain.
Their shared understanding of what it meant to be betrayed by the people who should have protected them.
"I was eighteen when they threw me out," Victor said.
"I was twenty-three when I bought my first property."
"And I was twenty-six when I realized I couldn't save everyone."
"Clara, the world is cruel."
"People are cruel."
"But you don't have to be."
She looked at him.
"You sound like my mother."
"Your mother was smart."
"She would have liked you."
"Would she?"
"Yes. She would have seen the good in you. She always saw the good in people, even when they didn't deserve it."
Victor reached across the table.
May you like
"Then let's honor her."
"Let's build something she would have been proud of."
