Chapter 20
Alicia stared in stunned disbelief at the woman now standing before her. Her body tensed as her mother, Paula, stepped into the gallery office uninvited and wrapped her in a tight embrace.
Alicia’s arms remained rigid at her sides.
“What are you doing here?” she asked coldly, voice barely above a whisper. She slowly pushed Paula away, her eyes flaring. “If you’re here to ruin my life again, you can go. I left so you could have your perfect little world. Why don’t you leave me mine?”
Paula’s eyes were glassy with regret. “Alicia… please, that’s not why I’m here. I know everything now. About Patricia. About what she did to you… and your baby.”
The words sliced into Alicia like knives. Her breath caught in her throat.
“She confessed,” Paula continued shakily. “We’ve punished her. She’s no longer welcome in ou home… in our lives. You’re my daughter. I should have protected you.”
Alicia shook her head, heart pounding. “You want to say sorry and expect it to erase everything?”
“I don’t expect that,” Paula whispered. “But I want a chance… to prove it to you. We can start
over.”
Alicia’s lips trembled with emotion, but she quickly pulled herself together. “You can prove it all you want. But I’m not ready to forgive you. Not yet.”
She turned sharply, her heels echoing against the gallery floor as she stormed out of the room, chest tightening, trying to outrun the storm rising inside her.
But as she pushed the doors open and stepped into the foyer-
“Alicia.”
She froze.
That voice.
She looked up and saw Denver, tears streaming down his face. He looked broken. His once–proud posture was gone. His eyes, usually cold and calculating, now begged.
He ran to her and pulled her into a desperate embrace. “I’m sorry. For everything. I didn’t know how to love you back then–but I do now. Please… forgive me.”
Alicia’s body tensed. His touch didn’t comfort her anymore–it repulsed her. She shoved him back with all the force in her small frame and slapped him across the face.
“You don’t get to do this,” she spat. “I don’t want to ever see you again.”
Paula caught up behind them, out of breath. “Alicia, wait–you’re married. And now that everything is clear–surely you can work this out?”
Her voice was pleading. She still didn’t get it.
“Marriage?” Alicia laughed, incredulous. “Fix what? A lie?”
“You know how sacred our family sees marriage. It was all just a misunderstanding.”
Alicia turned to her mother, her eyes hard and wild. “Misunderstanding?” Her voice rose. “Do you even know he cheated on me–with Patricia? If you knew that, you wouldn’t be asking me to fix this farce of a marriage.”
Chapter 19
23
26.09
2:59 pm DDDD.
Paula blinked. “What?”
“Ask him yourself,” Alicia said, pointing at Denver. “Come on, Denver. Tell her. Tell her how you slept with her favorite daughter.”
Denver opened his mouth–but no words came out.
Alicia’s voice broke. “See? You still don’t know anything. Before you say sorry to me–go and figure out who the hell you’ve been loving all this time.”
She turned around, her back straight, tears threatening to fall but never granted the permission. Julian, who had stood nearby the entire time, watching silently out of respect, moved closer.
Alicia grabbed his hand.
“You want to know who I’m marrying?” she said. “I’m marrying him. Julian. Someone who never once made me feel less than.”
And then, without hesitation, she pulled Julian in and kissed him–deeply, passionately, and with finality.
It wasn’t about proving anything.
It was about reclaiming her power.
Denver stood frozen. Paula gasped.
And Alicia, hand in Julian’s, walked out of the building.
She was done being their puppet.
She had chosen her life now–and no one could take it away from her again.
