Chapter 7 - GRACE’S ANGER
Grace was angrier at me than I expected.
At first I resented that.
Then I understood.
Milena lied to both of us.
But Grace carried pregnancy.
Birth.
Night feedings.
Medical appointments.
Rent.
Work.
A sick mother.
A child asking about a father she believed had paid to stay away.
I carried heartbreak and business meetings.
Not equivalent.
One afternoon after mediation, she said:
“You keep saying you didn’t know.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know.”
“Then?”
“You stopped.”
There.
The letter.
Two calls.
One visit to an empty apartment.
Then pride.
“I thought you chose to leave.”
“And you were forty-three.”
I looked at her.
“You had security people. Investigators. Lawyers. You knew my mother was sick. You knew where I worked before. You could have asked more than your mother.”
She was right.
That did not make Milena less responsible.
It made me more honest.
“I should have.”
Grace cried then.
Not dramatically.
Quiet.
“I spent three years hating you because it was easier than wondering why I wasn’t worth one more question.”
There was nothing I could say to improve that sentence.
So I did not.
Later, therapy helped us separate two injuries.
Milena actively deceived.
I passively accepted a story that matched my pride.
Different.
Both mattered.
Then Grace asked:
“Do you want us to become a family?”
Dangerous question.
“We already are a family because Luke connects us.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
I knew.
Romance.
Marriage.
Reunion.
I looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
Good answer.
She nodded.
“Me either.”
May you like
No forced love story.
Not yet.
