Just then, a rich man of about forty years of age came into their lives. An expensive suit, a luxury car, a heavy look of a man accustomed to getting what he wanted.
He entered their home and calmly, almost indifferently, said:
āIāll help your father get out early.ā I will pay off the debts. Your family will no longer need anything. Just marry me and give me a son. Iāll die in a year anyway.
He spoke as if he were discussing the purchase of land.
The girl was silent. She looked at his face, his confidence, and suddenly she felt sorry for him. Forty years. Rich. And yet alone. He reiterated that the doctors gave him a year of life at most.
She accepted. Not for the money, at least thatās what he convinced himself. Either way, he would die in a year. Her father would be released, her mother would receive treatment. What did he have to lose?
