The house was somehow too beautiful, so much above her place in society that Tuyet had a premonition that it would not be her permanent home. This gave her a measure of vicarious pleasure, as though she was wearing expensive jewelry on loan. Since childhood, nothing had come easily, so she always felt that whatever she got without shedding sweat and tears hadn’t been truly earned. Without this “earning” process, owning something was neither complete nor fulfilling.
