I was done being the scapegoat. First, him, then the blackmailer who was behind him, and the truth I got from Matteo.
It was always him. Because of him, I got trapped in this circle. I would have successfully divorced him. Should have denied Grandpa Albert’s request to help him. All of it would have been avoided if I had refused to be part of his family...part of him.
That’s when Dave’s voice rang into my ear.
"We know that you are hurt, but we can’t just switch that off. Elena, we are not asking you to..." Dave frowned slightly as he tried stepping forward.
"Yes, you are," I said, my tone firr than I intended, with a hint of simring anger inside .
"You both are. Maybe not directly, but your eyes say it. You want to co back. To be the sa person I was before everything went wrong, but I am not her anymore." The words hurt to say, but they were the truth. It got harder by every passing second to hold it in anymore.
I was not that woman anymore. The one who trusted easily, who believed love could fix everything. That version of had been stripped away, piece by piece.
Grandpa’s expression softened. "We understand, my dear. We will take it slow..."
I shook my head. "No. You don’t understand. I need space. Real space. Boundaries, because if you push too hard. If you try to force into sothing I am not ready for..." My voice faltered, but I forced myself to et their eyes.
"You’ll lose again. This ti for good." I said those final words with determination.
I could feel the tension still lingering in the air like thick fog.
My voice ca out sharper and angrier than I ant. The sound echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls and hanging in the air long after I had stopped talking.
My heart was still racing, pounding against my ribs, and I could feel my fingers trembling slightly.
I had not ant to shout.
I had not ant to lose control, but the words just... spilled out.
After so long keeping everything locked inside, pretending that I was fine, pretending that I could still smile and act as if the wounds had healed.
Now, it had all co crashing down the mont they looked at with that sa helpless concern in their eyes.
The mont those words left my mouth, silence swallowed everything.
I could see Grandpa Albert’s face change first.
The soft hope that had been glowing in his eyes just monts ago flickered, like a candle hit by a sudden gust of wind.
His shoulders slumped, and the faint smile he had been holding onto faded completely.
The light in his eyes dimd, and in its place, there was a quiet pain...one that made my chest tighten.
He looked down at his hands for a mont before pushing his glasses up his nose, probably to hide the emotion in his eyes.
For a man who had always seed strong, confident, and composed, that small, defeated motion felt heavier than any shout could have.
Dave, on the other hand, didn’t move at all.
He stood there across the room, his expression hard and unreadable.
His jaw was clenched, his posture rigid. His eyes were fixed on , but there was sothing different in them...sothing I couldn’t quite na.
It was not anger.
It was not sadness either.
Maybe it was frustration... or guilt. Or maybe, like , he didn’t even know what he was feeling anymore.
His hand curled into a fist by his side, and for a mont, I thought he was going to say sothing, but he didn’t.
He just looked at ...so still that it almost made uneasy.
Sophia shifted near the doorway, breaking the stillness for a second.
I could see the discomfort on her face. She herself did not know whether to step in or stay quiet.
Her eyes flickered between and Dave, and then to Grandpa, as if searching for sothing to break that awkward silence hanging in the air.
Even Emma, who had been giggling and talking to her Mr. Bunny just a few minutes ago, was now silent.
Her big eyes were wide, confused, darting from one adult to another. Though she did not understand what had happened, she could sense the tension.
The air was too heavy for a child like her to breathe in.
And then it hit .
The guilt.
It started slowly, like a dull ache in my stomach, then crept up to my chest until I could hardly breathe.
I had shouted at them. At Grandpa, who had searched for for all this ti, who had just been happy to finally see again.
At Dave, who, no matter what had happened between us, was still part of that complicated, painful past I could not seem to escape.
My lips parted slightly, the words ’I am sorry’ forming at the back of my throat.
I wanted to say it. I wanted to take away the pain I saw in Grandpa’s eyes, to erase the hurt silence that had replaced Dave’s sharp replies.
But then I saw sothing which felt like a slap on my face, snapping back to reality.
Those faint marks along my wrist and down my arm. The reminders of the bruises caused by Josh once covered my skin, now faded but still there.
They were light now, almost invisible to anyone else, but I could see them clearly. I rembered exactly how each one had felt...the sting, the cold, the helplessness.
The continuous praying for death instead of surviving that nightmare. Every single day.
And just like that, the guilt began to fade.
No. Not again. Not this ti. I thought to myself.
I would not let myself bend just because the silence felt uncomfortable. I would not let my instinct to make peace. Again.
And then drag back into the sa cycle that had broken before.
I straightened slightly, pulling in a slow breath. My hands were steadier now.
My voice, when I finally spoke, ca out quieter but firr. "We will et again soon. We will discuss what to do next and how to handle everything that’s happening." I said, forcing myself to look up.
I didn’t want them to think I was cutting ties completely. I just needed space...to think, to rebuild, to breathe without their expectations crushing .
Grandpa Albert lifted his head, his expression softening a little. He nodded once, slowly. "I understand, my dear," he said quietly.
"I won’t force you to do anything. You take your ti." As those words left his mouth, relief almost flooded .
Almost.
Until he added, "But rember, you are still part of this family. No matter what happens, you will always be one of us."
His tone was gentle, but the weight of those words settled heavily in my chest.
I wanted to protest, to say that being part of this so-called family was exactly what had ruined , but instead, I just simply gave a curt nod.
I did not trust myself to speak again.
Dave hadn’t said a word since my outburst.
He just gave Grandpa a short nod when the older man said, "We should leave now."
Then, without another glance in my direction, he turned and walked toward the door. His footsteps were firm, steady, and sohow distant.
Like each step was a wall being built between us.
Grandpa followed him, giving a final look before exiting. I waited until I heard the sound of the car starting outside before I finally let my shoulders drop.
The silence they left behind felt different this ti. Not heavy with anger or guilt.
Just... empty.
Sophia was the first to move. She ca closer, her footsteps soft, and placed a hand gently on my shoulder.
"Everything will be alright," she whispered. Her voice was warm, comforting, but I could hear the uncertainty beneath it.
I nodded, unable to say anything.
She smiled faintly before turning to Emma, who was still holding Mr. Bunny tightly. "Co on, sweetheart. Let’s make sothing nice to drink, okay?" She said softly as usual.
Emma blinked, her lips trembling as if she wanted to ask if they were coming back, but she just nodded and followed Sophia to the kitchen.
When they disappeared down the hall, I finally allowed myself to sink back into the couch.
The quiet wrapped around again, and I closed my eyes for a mont. My body felt heavy, drained from the argunt, from holding in so much for so long.
But underneath the exhaustion, sothing else was stirring. A faint, growing spark.
I wasn’t sure if it was anger, resolve, or just the will to survive, but it was there, alive and steady. Ready to take the next step.
For the first ti in a long while, I was not drowning in confusion or guilt.
My mind was beginning to clear. I started thinking...really thinking, about what to do next.
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