"Perhaps the answer is that time changes all of us"

"What secret?" Emily tried to appear nonchalant, but her rapid speech betrayed her inner urgency, inevitably catching Ronald's attention.

"You're not seriously into him, are you? Out of brotherly concern, let me warn you—he's not a good man."

"How is he not a good man?" Emily straightened up, unable to hide her interest.

Ronald's eyes darted away, his lips moving as if he was torn between speaking and staying silent, a picture of utter conflict.

Emily snatched his cigarettes from the center console and held them out the window. "Speak now, or I'm tossing these."

Without his cigarettes, Ronald was like an addict deprived of his fix, yelling out in haste, "He's got a mistress on the side."

Emily scoffed, "That's the secret you're dying to tell?"

Ronald chuckled, "Don't underestimate a mistress. Her existence could shake up the entire