Chapter 1 Prologue

• Simon Salvatore ran in circles through the garden, his little arms open, a wide smile of satisfaction on his face as the wind's strength collided against it and tossed his hair around. It was like flying. He loved the sensation, but above all, he loved hearing the tiny laughter of his playmate, Paulina Perez, the daughter of the Salvatore mansion's housekeeper and driver.
• The girl, two years younger, was sitting on the patchwork mat on the porch, her gentle amber eyes watching fascinated as her friend spun around and around.
• "Come on, Lina! It's fun!"
• "No. Last time, I got dizzy, fell, and Mom scolded me," she recalled, her cheeks flushed with the early November spring heat.
• Simon stopped spinning. Upset, he climbed the three steps that led to the porch and sat next to her.
• "It's not fun without you," he grumbled, pouting, earning the crystalline laughter of his friend, who, a little embarrassed, placed her hand on his.
• Simon admired her small smile, her flushed face, and her beauty. Paulina looked like a porcelain doll, like the ones his mother kept on the highest shelf in the sewing room. Fair-skinned, rosy lips, delicate, always in a floral lace dress. The difference was that she had permission to play with Lina. Although she refused some games, such as climbing trees, spinning on the lawn, and playing with mud balls, Simon still liked her very much and wanted her to be by his side forever.
• His attention was drawn to voices on the mansion's side. He saw his mother accompany his father to the car. Paulina's father was keeping the back door open for the boss. Simon smiled when his mother kissed his father's lips before letting him go to work. Every morning they repeated that gesture, and Simon wondered if that was what kept them together.
• He turned to his little friend, who was also watching the scene, and, imitating his mother, kissed Paulina on the mouth.
• That was when everything changed in his life. In that brief moment, after that brief kiss.
• Suddenly, her mother appeared screaming and pulled Paulina away from him. Terrified, he heard the woman, always so kind, scold him harshly.
• His mother approached, confused by the shouting, and Paulina's mother told her about the kiss and said that he had taken indecent liberties with her daughter. The two women started a heated argument. Confused, Simon cried out of fear that his kiss had hurt his friend and that was why her mother was so angry with him.
• After that day, Paulina's mother never gave him permission to play with her again, nor did she allow them to be alone in the same place.
• Simon didn't understand what was so wrong with his kiss, but he didn't have the courage to ask or complain about the growing distance between him and Paulina.
• He became angry with Perez, with himself, and with the terrible idea of kissing her to unite them forever. The effect was the opposite; every day they grew further apart, ignored each other, and, over time, became strangers in the same house.