It was that, even after everything, Elena had still been responsible for her own choices.
She could blame him for influencing her. She could regret the years she had lost. She could spend the rest of her life trying to rebuild what she had broken.
But she could never return to that rainy Thursday evening and choose differently.
Neither could I.
What I could do was look at the six women sitting around my table and know that, despite everything, we had won something far more valuable than revenge.
We had built a family that did not need Elena’s approval to be whole.
And no lie, no expensive gift, and no man with a fortune could take that away from us.
For the first time in fifteen years, I was no longer waiting for the past to apologize.
I was too busy enjoying the life we had built without it.
