The room went silent again.
There it was.
The final piece of the truth.
Julian had manipulated Elena, but he had not carried her out of our house. He had not forced her to ignore the girls’ birthdays. He had not prevented her from sending a single card or asking for a meeting.
She had made those choices herself.
She had allowed him to turn her guilt into resentment, then used that resentment to justify her absence.
Elena looked at him as if he had struck her.
“You said you would stand by me.”
“I did.”
“You said we were building a family.”
“We built a life together.”
“A life built on lies!”
Julian’s expression hardened.
“Don’t pretend you were innocent in all of this. You told me you wanted a new beginning. You told me you were ready to leave your old life behind.”
Elena recoiled.
“I was trying to make something work!”
