“Is that true?”
He nodded.
“I couldn’t contact you.”
“So you secretly paid my bills?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew I had abandoned you.”
Sophia’s anger softened for one second.
Then hardened again.
“You should have stayed.”
Maxwell nodded.
“I know.”
A woman’s voice came from behind them.
“Max?”
Emily.
She stood several feet away.
She had heard everything.
Her wedding dress seemed almost painfully bright under the hallway lights.
She looked at Maxwell.
“Is she carrying your children?”
Maxwell nodded.
Emily closed her eyes.
“How long have you known?”
“Since she told me.”
“And you still planned to marry me?”
Maxwell couldn’t answer.
Emily looked at Sophia.
For a moment, Sophia expected anger.
Instead, Emily walked toward her.
“I am sorry.”
Sophia shook her head.
“You don’t owe me an apology.”
“Yes, I do.”
Emily looked at Sophia’s stomach.
“You shouldn’t have had to walk into this room tonight.”
Sophia swallowed.
“No.”
Emily turned toward Maxwell.
“Neither should you.”
Then she removed her engagement ring.
She placed it in his hand.
“I won’t marry someone who is still living inside another story.”
She walked away.
The ballroom went silent.
Maxwell stood there holding the ring.
Sophia looked at him.
