Chapter 15
Bianca and I eventually had dinner alone again.
Not engagement dinner.
Just dinner.
She wore no ring.
I wore no expectations.
At one point she said:
“I still love you.”
I looked at her.
“I know.”
“That’s cruel.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Love is not the question.”
She understood.
Trust.
Could I trust her not to decide for me because she feared losing me?
Could she trust me enough to bring ugly truth before securing her place?
Could she exist in a family where secrecy had once been currency without using it?
No answer yet.
Good.
We kept talking.
Months later she attended Rose’s birthday.
No pillbox.
No symbolic apology.
Just flowers.
Mila was there managing the event.
They exchanged a nod.
Enough.
Elias did not come.
His choice.
Rose pretended not to be disappointed.
Failed.
We laughed about it.
That was progress too.
One year after the gala, Bianca gave me back the engagement ring.
Not wearing it.
In a box.
“I don’t want this until you decide again.”
Good.
I kept it.
Did nothing.
For six more months.
Then I asked her.
Not because history demanded it.
Because I wanted to.
She said yes.
May you like
Quietly.
No gala.
