Chapter 14
Vivienne and I started over.
Not romantically at first.
Conversation.
Public places.
No ring.
No wedding plans.
No assumption.
She hated it.
Then appreciated it.
We discovered something uncomfortable.
Without the engagement machinery around us, we still liked each other.
That made everything harder.
If love had vanished, consequence would be simple.
It hadn’t.
One evening she asked:
“Will you ever trust me with your study again?”
“Maybe.”
She flinched.
Then nodded.
Progress.
Another time:
“Do you think I became my uncle?”
“No.”
She looked relieved.
Then I continued.
“You used one of his methods.”
Relief ended.
Good.
People do not need to become villains entirely to do something villainous.
That distinction gave her somewhere to change without denying action.
Six months later she gave me a watch.
I stared.
She almost laughed.
“Open it.”
Inside was a cheap plastic children’s watch.
Bright blue.
Ridiculous.
“For Beatrix’s charity raffle.”
I laughed.
First time the word watch did not tighten something in my chest.
Good.
No hidden microphone.
No heirloom.
No family ghost.
Just ugly plastic.
May you like
I bought five tickets.
Lost anyway.
