A week passed during which I attended several job interviews, talked for hours with Alan, and, on the odd occasion, felt an itch on my neck.
The one I had heard nothing from was Alessandro, nor from Valery, except when I received an email with the settlement of my contract. Upon seeing the figure, increased by an account indicating "compensation for exceptional services," I assumed it was some kind of poor excuse for the way things had ended.
Nevertheless, the extra money was helpful, and despite what Sonnia had pointed out about me with all the sarcasm in the world, if I truly wanted to free myself from that nightmare world, I had to pretend that none of it existed, including the privileges of my supposed lineage.
Of course, I continued signing my checks, accounts, and online forms as
