Raquel looked down.
“I cannot force your family to accept me.”
“I know.”
“And I will never beg them to.”
“I would never ask you to.”
She studied him.
“Then what are you asking me for?”
Raúl looked at her, his voice breaking.
“I’m asking for the chance to show you that their cruelty does not define my love for you. But I also understand that you may not be able to trust me again.”
For the first time since he had arrived, Raquel said nothing.
He placed the engagement ring on the table between them.
“I won’t ask you to marry me while you’re hurting. I won’t pressure you to forgive me. And I won’t use everything you’ve done for my family as a reason you should keep me in your life.”
He pushed the ring gently toward her.
“I only want you to know that I am sorry. Not because you might leave me, but because the woman I love was humiliated in a place where she should have been welcomed.”
