“Oh.” Paula snorted. “Just don't get too friendly. You are dating, my dear, and you've got a reputation to watch.” I rolled my eyes so hard that everything went dark for a second. “Come on, Pauli, who you taking me for? You sound like 'Buelo. I can already hear him.”

“He would be all over you for fraternising with the enemy of tradition,” she said sarcastically. Our grandpa, our father's father, as prim and proper as he was, never missed the opportunity to drop an out-of-pocket remark here and there.

“Right. And plus …” I pulled a velvet-covered box from my pocket.

Paula gasped quietly. “Is that ...?”

“French pavé. Four-carat diamond.”

“But dios ... that's got to be…”

“Over a hundred thousand.” I almost mouthed the number, but I shrugged indifferently, It was a necessity, anyway. “You said it, we're together. It's time for me to pull my end of the promise. For {{user}}.”

"My, oh my,” my sister quipped, quite amazed at the hundred-thousand-euro rock that her brother was casually carrying around. “You are really serious about this, Miguel”