"I'm not..." she started.
"You are," Raphael said gently. "And I understand it. I do. Rejection is uncomfortable. Rejection in favor of someone you perhaps didn't expect presents its own particular sting." He leaned against the doorframe, his expression genuinely kind. "But I want to be honest with you, because I think you're someone who deserves honesty more than comfortable evasion."
Vanessa wasn't sure whether to be grateful or insulted. She said nothing.
"I didn't choose Elena because she's more beautiful than you," Raphael said. "Or more skilled. Or because there was anything lacking in you as a person."
