Chapter 17 - Chloe Came to Apologize
A year after the penthouse incident, Chloe emailed Rebecca.
Subject.
NO EXCUSES.
Rebecca almost deleted it.
Then she opened it.
Chloe asked for ten minutes.
Nothing more.
They met in a hotel café.
Ironically.
Chloe arrived early.
She looked older.
Not physically.
In the eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
She said.
Rebecca waited.
“For the affair.”
“For coming into your home.”
“For laughing.”
“For letting Daniel point at you like that.”
“For believing the things he said because they made me feel chosen.”
Rebecca looked at her.
“That last one is probably the most honest.”
Chloe nodded.
“He told me you were cold.”
“That you cared only about money.”
“That you embarrassed him.”
“That you stopped being a wife years ago.”
“And you believed him.”
“Yes.”
“Because I wanted to.”
Rebecca appreciated that answer more than any excuse.
Chloe continued.
“When you said the apartment belonged to your trust, I thought you were trying to humiliate him.”
“Then I found out how much he lied.”
She looked down.
“I realized if I stayed long enough, eventually I would become the woman he described to someone else.”
Rebecca said nothing.
Then Chloe smiled sadly.
“You know what I remember most?”
“What?”
“You laughed.”
Rebecca almost smiled.
“I was terrified.”
“I know that now.”
Chloe stood.
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
Rebecca replied.
“Because I don’t know whether I have it.”
Chloe nodded.
“Fair.”
Then Rebecca added.
“But I’m not carrying you around in my head anymore.”
Chloe’s eyes filled with tears.
“That’s more than I deserve.”
She left.
Rebecca finished her coffee.
May you like
And for the first time, the young woman who once stood in her home felt like exactly what she was.
Past tense.
