“Pedro, I know you hate me, but just give me one chance,” I beg, trying my best to keep my voice steady. “One last chance? And then I’ll leave you alone. I promise.”

Pedro stops. He turns around slowly to look at me, his shoulders tense.

Cintia, Victor, and PC mouth good luck to me on their way out, so Pedro and I can speak privately.

I stand trembling. I knew it wouldn’t be easy.

“I didn’t know Mom had been discussing things with Deals Deals,” I begin. “She wants to sell Salt, but I swear she hasn’t accepted any offers yet.”

He squints at me. “How can I trust you now, when you didn’t even tell me about your mother keeping a simple business card?”

“I’m sorry. I should have told you.”

I hear his pain when he laughs in self-mockery. “Why was it so hard to tell me? We could have tried fixing things together. But you didn’t trust me enough. Did I do something to make you doubt me?”

“I didn’t tell you because...” I shake my head. “Because I didn’t want to believe it myself, that my mom would ever sell. And because... I think... I think I was worried you’d tell your family and they’d go ahead and sell Sugar. But that was before. That was before I learned to trust you, I swear!”

Pedro stares at me. “But you still didn’t tell me.”

I feel horrible. But there’s no way around it.

“Pedro, I’m sorry.”

He shuts his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. When he opens them again, they’re filled with so much regret, it breaks my heart. I don’t know if I can fix this.

“I can’t help but think your mother was setting my mom up to fail, so she could go ahead and sell Salt first.”

“You know that’s not true.”

“My family will go bankrupt.” He shakes his head. “Do you understand why I’m—Lari, just tell me the truth. Were you...using me or...?”

“Using you?!”

Pedro looks conflicted. “My head is a mess now. And I... I don’t get it. I thought you and I... Were you trying to distract me so your mother could sell Salt?” His voice is raw like he’s been crying. I just stare at him in stunned silence. It kills me that he can so easily go back to seeing me as a person capable of doing anything to hurt his family.

“Pedro.”

“Was the contest a lie? You were never going to show up, were you? I’d get there on Thursday and you’d be, where? Helping your mother gather the paperwork for the Deals Deals meeting on Friday? What I don’t get is why would you go so far to hurt my family. Why? Did your mother put you up to this or—?”

“Pedro!”