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I look down at my hands. I don’t know what to say. Because what he did was awful. Not just arrogant and entitled, but cruel.

He took advantage of someone who had far less power than he did. And then he dismissed her pain because it was inconvenient.

I think about my own life. About losing my job, and the man I thought I loved, my apartment and so many of my belongings. I’d arrived here with almost nothing.

If someone had told me that this house was merely property, that I should be grateful for whatever money they offered— I would have hated them. Because at the time this house was the only hope for a future I had.

I look at Gabriel.

“That’s a pretty terrible thing you did.”

“Yes.”

“You really hurt her.”

“I did.”

“And you can’t undo it.”

“No.”

He doesn’t look away. Doesn’t defend himself. Doesn’t try to make me feel better about what he did. Somehow, that matters.

“Would you do it again?” I ask.

His answer is immediate. “No.”

“Even if you weren’t cursed?”

“Especially then.”

I study him. “Why?”

He looks around the room.

For a moment, I think he’s going to say something about how he’s suffered. About how a hundred and forty-three years is punishment enough.

But he doesn’t.

“Because I was wrong.”

My chest tightens.

“I thought that because I could afford something, I was entitled to have it. I never considered what it meant to the person who already possessed it.” He inhales deeply. “I was so proud of this house. Of everything I owned. I believed it made me important.”

“And now?”

He looks at me. “Now I know I could have every possession in the world and still have nothing worth living for.”

Oh. My throat goes tight.

“Gabriel.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t expect you to think well of me after hearing that.”

I stare at him. “Do you think I’m going to hate you?”

“I wouldn’t blame you.”