Chapter 13 - THE APOLOGY WITHOUT EXCUSES
Sofia found Alessandro in the library.
The same library where she had taken off her ring.
He stood beside the fireplace.
Alone.
No Valentina.
No wine.
No lies.
Sofia placed the old letter on his desk.
He looked at it.
“Where did you get that?”
“Valentina.”
His expression changed.
“She shouldn’t have.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want evidence used to pressure you into forgiving me.”
Sofia stared.
That was not the man from Chapter One.
Not the man who had once said don’t make this bigger than it is.
“Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to stop the plan?”
“Because it doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
He shook his head.
“I still continued.”
“To protect Matteo.”
“I didn’t know it was Matteo.”
“To protect whoever Gabriel was hiding.”
“Yes.”
“And me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you trust me?”
Alessandro looked down.
“Because I confused protecting you with controlling what you knew.”
There it was.
No excuse.
No strategy.
No criminal logic.
Just responsibility.
“I was wrong.”
Sofia’s eyes filled.
“I humiliated you.”
“Yes.”
“I made our home unsafe.”
“Yes.”
“I used your mother’s room for a plan without your consent.”
“Yes.”
“I watched you take off your ring because I had created evidence convincing enough to break your heart.”
His voice shook.
“I will regret that until I die.”
Sofia sat.
Alessandro remained standing.
She looked at the empty place on his finger.
“Where’s your ring?”
“In my desk.”
“Why?”
“Because wearing it felt like claiming something you haven’t decided to give me.”
Her throat tightened.
“Do you still love me?”
His eyes met hers.
“More than I know how to carry.”
She almost smiled.
“That sounds unhealthy.”
“It probably is.”
For the first time in weeks, they laughed together.
Then silence returned.
Sofia looked around the library.
“Fourteen years doesn’t disappear.”
“No.”
“Neither does that night.”
“No.”
“I can’t go back.”
“I don’t want to.”
She looked at him.
Alessandro stepped closer but stopped several feet away.
“If there is anything left, I want to build something new.”
Sofia’s eyes filled.
“I don’t know if there is.”
“I know.”
That evening, Leo came to dinner.
He still preferred Leo to Matteo.
Sofia respected it.
Alessandro did too.
The three of them ate awkwardly.
Then less awkwardly.
Leo complained about school.
Alessandro asked about baseball.
Sofia laughed when Alessandro pretended to understand modern slang.
For one hour, they were almost ordinary.
When Leo left, he hugged Sofia.
Then hesitated in front of Alessandro.
Finally, he offered his hand.
Alessandro looked at it.
Then shook it.
Small.
Careful.
A beginning.
Later, Sofia walked toward the door.
Alessandro did not stop her.
“Sofia?”
She turned.
“Yes?”
“I’m proud of you.”
She stared.
Not beautiful.
Not mine.
Not wife.
Proud.
Something inside her shifted.
She left anyway.
But when she reached her mother’s townhouse, she realized she was still holding something.
Alessandro’s wedding ring.
May you like
She had taken it from his desk without thinking.
Or perhaps she had known exactly what she was doing.
