Chapter 6

Back at the villa, Brooke suddenly wrapped her arms around me and kissed me.

Then she pulled back a bit, looking at me seriously. “Asher, do you know? You are the best Asher. You don’t need to compare yourself to anyone.”

I stared at her, as if she were responding to Clara comparing me to Lucas.

How… how did she know me so well?

She knew my little habits that Clara had forgotten—what kind of candy I liked, what dishes I preferred, what movies I enjoyed…

She took another step further than before.

I didn’t object.

She looked at me, momentarily stunned, then took my hand and led me into her room.

We were tangled in that room, our breathing ragged, our bodies entwined.

Before this, Clara had been the only woman I’d ever been with.

When Clara first pursued me, I was full of distrust.

But her earnestness and resolve, her attitude towards my grandmother, and the help she secretly offered, won me over.

Later, because her parents disapproved, they cut off her financial support.

I thought that was when she’d realize the gap between us.

But she didn’t compromise. Instead, she worked and studied alongside me.

Eventually, her parents relented out of concern.

I truly settled down with her.

When my only grandmother passed away, she hugged me, comforting me, telling me I still had her.

She promised she would always be by my side.

Such was a relationship that, even then, felt like it had completely changed.

If that was the case, then I might as well learn to be with another woman.