Chapter 12 - What an Apology Cannot Fix
Julian found Elena upstairs twenty minutes later.
She had changed into dry clothes.
A suitcase rested open on the bed.
He stopped in the doorway.
“What are you doing?”
“Packing.”
His face fell.
“Elena.”
She folded a sweater.
“We need to talk.”
“We've talked.”
“No, we've barely spoken.”
Elena continued packing.
Julian entered.
“My mother manipulated everything.”
“Yes.”
“She lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“She created evidence.”
“Yes.”
He looked frustrated.
“Then you understand what happened.”
Elena stopped.
“I understand exactly what happened.”
She faced him.
“Your mother accused me.”
Julian swallowed.
“You believed her.”
He looked down.
“She humiliated me.”
His shoulders dropped.
“You watched.”
“Elena, please.”
“You allowed guards to lock me in a room.”
“I was confused.”
“You were my husband.”
Silence.
Elena returned to the suitcase.
Julian's voice softened.
“I made the worst mistake of my life.”
“You did.”
“I can fix it.”
She looked at him.
“How?”
“I'll get us another house.”
“That isn't the problem.”
“I'll cut my mother off.”
“That isn't the problem either.”
“We'll go to counseling.”
Elena shook her head.
“You still think this is about repairing something that broke.”
“Isn't it?”
“No.”
Her voice remained steady.
“This showed me something that was already broken.”
Julian stared at her.
Elena sat on the edge of the bed.
“For three years, every decision depended on your mother.”
“Our wedding.”
“Our house.”
“Our vacations.”
“Even where we spent Christmas.”
Julian opened his mouth.
Elena continued.
“I accepted it because I thought eventually you would choose our marriage.”
“I did choose you.”
“No.”
She looked directly into his eyes.
“When choosing me became difficult, you chose her.”
Julian sat in a chair.
Tears appeared in his eyes.
“I love you.”
Elena's expression softened slightly.
“I believe you.”
Hope flashed across his face.
Then she finished.
“But love without trust isn't enough.”
He covered his face.
Elena continued packing.
She selected only the clothes she had purchased herself.
She removed a diamond bracelet Julian had given her and placed it on the dresser.
Then earrings.
A watch.
A designer handbag Margaret had chosen.
Julian watched.
“Those are yours.”
“No.”
“They were gifts.”
“I don't want anything that reminds me of this house.”
“Elena.”
She zipped the suitcase.
The final sound echoed through the room.
Julian stood.
“Please don't decide today.”
“I decided last night.”
His face changed.
“Before you found the necklace?”
Elena shook her head.
“After I found it.”
He looked confused.
“When you walked into your mother's office.”
Julian froze.
“I was behind the curtain.”
He remembered.
His whispered apology.
His fear.
His desperate wish to be wrong about Margaret.
“You heard me.”
“Yes.”
“And you still want to leave?”
May you like
Elena lifted her suitcase.
“Especially because I heard you.”
