His chest rose and fell heavily as he spoke. "Just imagine if Cora finds someone else. Someone she actually loves. That'll be the end of it for us. No more luxury. No more privileges. Nothing. All the doors she opened for us closed."
He paused again, letting the words settle in the room.
"That's not just failure, Dad. That's a slap in the face. And I can't let that happen. I can't let my friends here start mocking me. And my friends back home when they hear that I had it all and lost it? They'll laugh at me for the rest of my life."
Clinton leaned back in the chair, his jaw clenched tightly.
"I don't want to lose this chance. We've come too far for this."
Again Clinton leaned back slightly, still fuming about the potential loss of everything they had built around Cora. But before he could continue, his father raised a hand and gave him a pointed look.
