I tell people who I am, and suddenly I’m not a person anymore. I’m a bank account, a connection, a way to get something. You saw me that night because you didn’t know. If you’d known in the parking lot, would you have approached me? Marcus thought about that, forced himself to honesty. If he’d known she was Catherine Monroe, billionaire heiress, would he have walked over? Probably not.

He would have assumed she had people, resources, that someone like him had nothing to offer someone like her. I wouldn’t have talked to you, he admitted. Would have thought you didn’t need help. Catherine nodded, vindicated. Exactly. But I did need help, so badly. I was crying because I couldn’t make myself walk into that restaurant and pretend to be normal for two hours.

Couldn’t make myself go through the motions one more time. She moved to the windows, city lights painting her face in neon and shadow. My father built an empire. My mother maintained our image. And I learned that love was transactional. That people wanted access, not connection. That trust was weakness, and vulnerability was currency.

She turned, tears streaming. Until you. until some HVAC technician in a parking lot offered me kindness without knowing who I was. Without wanting anything except to make sure I was safe. Marcus closed the distance, took her hands. They were cold again, like in the parking lot. I’m not a saint.

I’m a guy who fixes air conditioners. I don’t know how to navigate your world. This He gestured at the penthouse, the city, the evidence of wealth beyond comprehension. This isn’t my life. I live in a three-bedroom house in Southeast Portland with a stained couch and bills I struggle to pay sometimes. Catherine shook her head.

It’s not mine, either. This is my father’s life, his expectations, his vision, his empire that I never wanted. I hate the galas, the fake friends who want proximity to power. I hate that I can’t go outside without worrying someone will photograph me, that every interaction is calculated, that I gave away my dog because someone said achievement mattered more than love.

Her voice broke. I canceled that date because I saw Danny in your profile and thought, I’ll ruin this kid. Because everyone I touch gets damaged by proximity to Richard Monroe’s daughter. Marcus pulled her closer, felt her shake. You haven’t ruined anything. Danny adores you. You listen to him in ways most adults don’t bother with.

You read his space books with different voices and take his questions seriously and you don’t get weird when he talks about his mom. Catherine pulled back. I don’t know how to be normal. Don’t know how to have relationships that aren’t about power or money or obligation. My father, she looked toward the windows.

He’s going to find out about you, about Danny. And when he does, he’ll try to destroy it. That’s what he does to anything I care about. Let him try. The anger surprised Marcus. “I’m not scared of your father.” But even saying it, he felt the weight of the lie. He was scared. Not of Richard Monroe himself, but of what this revelation meant.

The gap between their worlds felt insurmountable. The differences too vast to bridge with good intentions. Catherine must have seen the doubt because she pulled her hands away, wrapped her arms around herself. “You should go. This was a mistake. I should have stayed in that parking lot.” “I don’t want to go.

” But Marcus didn’t move toward her either. They stood in her expensive apartment with the city glittering behind her. Strangers again despite everything. “I like you, Catherine.” “More than I thought I could like anyone after Sarah died.” He forced the words out. “But I have Danny to think about.

And this, it’s complicated in ways I didn’t sign up for. You lied to me or hid truth. And I get why, but I can’t build something real on secrets and class differences so big they might as well be mountain ranges.” The words came out harsher than he’d intended. But they were true. Catherine nodded slowly. “I know. I’m sorry for lying.

For hiding. You deserve better than someone who’s too broken to be honest.” They stood in silence, the weight of everything unsaid crushing down. Finally, Marcus moved toward the elevator. “I need to think. This is it’s a lot.” Catherine didn’t try to stop him. “I understand. Tell Danny I’m sorry.” Marcus stepped into the elevator.

As the doors began closing, he saw her standing alone in that perfect empty apartment, looking smaller than she had in the parking lot, and wondered if he was making the biggest mistake of his life. Danny knew something was wrong the moment Marcus walked through the door. “Where’s Cat?” His face fell when Marcus said she wasn’t coming over.

“Did I do something wrong?” The question shattered Marcus’s heart. “No, buddy. Nothing like that. It’s grown-up stuff. Danny crossed his arms looking so much like Sarah it hurt. That’s what you said when mom got sick. But it wasn’t grown-up stuff. It was her dying. The accusation hung in the air, brutal and accurate.

Marcus sat heavily on the couch. Danny climbed up beside him waiting with the patience he’d learned from loss. Cat’s different than I thought. Marcus began. She comes from a really different world than us. Lot of money, lot of pressure. And I’m not sure we fit in that world or if trying to fit will hurt you in the long run. Danny frowned processing.

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