Chapter 13
Delphine rebuilt her life away from Hartwell.
I heard pieces.
Managed one Sedgewick hotel.
Then three.
Apparently excellent at it.
That did not surprise me.
Control itself was never her only problem.
Control without consent was.
Two years after the engagement ended, she asked to meet.
Neutral restaurant.
No staff from either family.
She looked calmer.
“So.”
She smiled faintly.
“Did your house collapse without me?”
“Barely survived.”
She laughed.
Then apologized to me.
Not for ambition.
Good.
For deception.
For letting fear become justification.
For trying to make herself indispensable before marriage because she did not trust love to protect her from irrelevance.
I apologized too.
That surprised her.
“For what?”
“For asking you to marry me without ever explaining what partnership inside my life would actually mean.”
Her eyes filled.
“That doesn’t excuse—”
“I know.”
Both truths.
We drank coffee.
No reconciliation.
May you like
No lingering romance.
Just two people finally having the direct conversation they should have had before a ring existed.
