Chapter 16
Elias attended the wedding.
Late.
Of course.
No front-row symbolic seat.
He sat wherever he wanted.
Mila caught him stealing dessert before dinner.
Apparently genetic criminality.
Rose cried when she saw him.
He hugged her this time.
Brief.
His choice.
Nathan was not invited.
He remained alive.
Retired.
Outside.
No dramatic revenge.
No deathbed confession.
I no longer needed one.
Some truths arrive complete enough.
Bianca’s uncle? No need. Different family. Ignore.
After the ceremony, Elias stood beside me.
“Dad would’ve hated this.”
“What?”
“No succession speech.”
I laughed.
“He’d survive.”
“He didn’t.”
Dark.
Perfect brother.
Then he became serious.
“Do you ever hate him?”
Our father.
“Sometimes.”
“Me too.”
“Still love him?”
“Yes.”
“Me too.”
There.
No need to choose one moral category.
People can be loved and condemned at the same time.
That might have saved our family decades if someone learned it earlier.
Bianca joined us.
Elias looked at her.
Long pause.
She said:
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded once.
Not forgiveness.
May you like
Acknowledgment.
Enough for a wedding.
