"Now that Miss Nella has said that, I feel relieved. Hurry up and get in the car, we should get going."
Alice probably said that to Bella, though Ryan couldn't quite remember the exact details. Just looking at Bella made his head spin.
In Ryan's mind, the Bella from four years ago and the Nella of today kept switching back and forth, until finally settling on the present version. No matter how much Ryan tried to deny it, things had changed. There was no going back.
Both women were incredibly sharp, and their relationship was always this strange mix of closeness and distance, leaving Ryan unsure of where he stood.
They both had unusual pasts, and Ryan, standing on the sidelines, just couldn't find a way to fit in.
Business really was complicated. When Ryan was a kid, gnawing on stale bread in the orphanage, he used to dream about being rich one day. But after seeing so much, he figured being an ordinary person wasn't so bad after all.