ESTEFANÍA Things had not turned out the way Lea had imagined. I wish I could affirm that and say that it had always been that way and that I had always belonged only to Joshua, but it was one of the most painful things in my life to admit that it wasn't always so. I had always loved him with an undying intensity, even now, with neither time nor distance able to erase it... yet I had failed him, and it was something I would have to carry on my conscience for the rest of my life. Lea held her breath at the brutal honesty I was speaking with. The unspoken words were choking me, desperate to reveal what had happened and to beg for forgiveness for what I had done. "I... thought something similar had happened like what happened with my brother because the way you acted with the photographs...

