Maria sat in heavy silence, her hands folded in her lap, her gaze fixed on the floor.
Guilt weighed on her chest like a stone.
She kept replaying Diana's reaction in her mind—the way her friend had shouted, cursed, thrown her hands up in utter disbelief.
The way Diana had been so passionately offended on Cassius's behalf, so utterly convinced that rejecting him was the worst decision anyone could possibly make.
And the worst part?
Maria was starting to agree with her.
After hearing everything Diana had said—something had shifted inside her.
She realized, perhaps for the first time, that she had denied herself happiness.
A normal person would crave happiness.
Would seek it out, pursue it, do everything in their power to improve their life and reach a higher level of living.
That was natural. That was human.
And everything Diana had said made it abundantly clear that being with Cassius would give her exactly that.
