Chapter 15
Victor finally met Marianne again.
Thirty-six years after taking her son.
He asked me to attend.
I refused.
Not my debt.
Bianca attended because Marianne allowed it.
Julian did not.
His choice.
Later Marianne told Sofia what happened.
Victor began with:
“I gave him a good life.”
Of course.
Marianne answered:
“That was your responsibility once you kept him.”
Silence.
Then Victor tried:
“He loved us.”
“He was allowed to.”
Again.
No competition.
No demand Julian choose one mother, one father, one truth.
Victor had always believed acknowledging harm required erasing his love.
It did not.
That was why he resisted so long.
If the taking was wrong, then he feared every birthday, every bedtime, every father-son memory became contaminated.
Marianne refused that too.
“You loved him.”
Pause.
“You still should not have taken him.”
Both truths.
Victor cried.
Apparently for the first time in Julian’s memory.
Good.
Not because tears absolved him.
Because denial had finally become more painful than grief.
When he returned, he asked Sofia for nothing.
That was new.
No request to hold the babies.
No defense.
He simply said:
“I understand why you don’t trust me.”
Sofia looked at him.
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Victor swallowed.
“Because I still catch myself thinking I would have loved your son well.”
There.
Honest.
Then:
“And I finally understand that was never the question.”
Sofia nodded.
That was the closest thing to progress she had heard from him.
She still did not hand him a baby.
Good.
May you like
Understanding earns possibility.
Not access.
