Chapter 17

• Alexei’s mouth twisted as if something sour was on his tongue. “Oh, I’ve tried. And then my mother got cancer, and my father said he’d refuse to treat her if I left.
• “I didn’t have any money then. My dad stopped giving my stipend when I threatened to leave.” His voice grew rough. “I couldn’t afford my mother’s treatment on my own. I stayed so my dad could send her to a hospital, even though I had to keep working for him for free.”
• Her hands gripped the blankets pooling beneath them. “What happened after that?”