Chapter 8
Isolde expected me to end the engagement.
I did.
She nodded before I said it.
That hurt.
Not enough to change the answer.
We sat in the ballroom where the bell incident happened.
Empty now.
No guests.
No uniforms.
She placed the engagement ring on the table.
“I love you.”
“I know.”
“Do you believe that?”
“Yes.”
She cried.
Love was not the disputed fact.
Safety was.
“You humiliated Aveline.”
“Yes.”
“You kept her awake.”
“Yes.”
“You referred to Celeste like endurance made suffering acceptable.”
“Yes.”
Her voice grew smaller each time.
Then:
“I became my mother.”
“No.”
She looked up.
“You became yourself making choices your mother trained you to normalize.”
Important.
She was not doomed by inheritance.
Which meant responsibility remained hers.
That was harder.
She nodded slowly.
Then asked:
“If I change?”
“You should.”
“For us?”
“No.”
That hurt.
Good.
“Change because you don’t want to keep hurting people.”
No promise of reunion.
May you like
No reward.
Growth should not be a transaction.
