Chapter 17 - The Last Conversation With Derek
Derek looked older.
Prison did that.
So did consequences.
Harper sat across the glass from him nearly three years after the day she found him with Kinsley.
Roman hadn't come.
Not because he didn't care.
Because Harper asked him not to.
This belonged to her.
Derek picked up the phone.
Harper did too.
"I heard you're getting married."
She looked at her ring.
"Yes."
"Vale."
"Roman."
Derek smiled faintly.
"Right."
Silence.
Then:
"You look happy."
"I am."
He nodded.
"I wanted to see that."
Harper frowned.
"Why did you ask me here?"
Derek looked toward the wall.
"My sentencing appeal was denied."
Harper waited.
"I'll be here a long time."
"You knew that was possible."
"Yeah."
He swallowed.
"I've had a lot of time."
"To think?"
"Unfortunately."
Harper almost smiled.
Derek continued.
"I used to tell myself I loved you."
"You probably did."
He looked surprised.
Harper explained.
"But love without respect isn't enough."
Derek nodded slowly.
"I know that now."
Harper watched him.
He seemed different.
Not redeemed.
Not transformed into someone trustworthy overnight.
Just stripped of his usual tools.
No money.
No charm advantage.
No control.
"I wanted to tell you something."
"What?"
"You weren't hard to love."
Harper went still.
Derek's eyes filled.
"I made you believe you were."
Her throat tightened.
"You were always checking yourself around me."
He looked ashamed.
"What you ate. What you wore. Whether you talked too much."
Harper stared.
"I noticed."
The admission hurt.
"You noticed?"
"Yes."
"And you kept doing it."
"I liked that you needed my approval."
There.
The ugliest truth.
No excuse.
Harper breathed slowly.
Derek continued.
"It made me feel important."
She looked away.
"I'm sorry."
Harper's voice became steady.
"I don't need that apology anymore."
Derek nodded.
"I figured."
"No."
She looked back.
"I spent a long time imagining you'd say exactly the right thing and somehow fix what happened."
"Can I?"
"No."
His face fell.
"But I fixed what it did to me."
Derek listened.
"I eat when I'm hungry."
A tiny smile.
"I wear things because I like them."
He nodded.
"I built my own company."
"I read about it."
"And I'm marrying someone who asks instead of assumes."
Derek looked down.
"I'm glad."
Harper believed him.
That was strange.
He asked, "Does he treat you well?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Silence again.
Then Derek said, "Kinsley sends pictures of Hope."
Harper smiled.
"She sends me some too."
"You've met her?"
"Twice."
Derek looked emotional.
"Is she okay?"
"Hope?"
"Both."
Harper nodded.
"Yes."
He closed his eyes.
"I signed away rights because I didn't want my name making her life harder."
"That was probably the right decision."
"I know."
Harper looked at the clock.
"Anything else?"
Derek hesitated.
"One thing."
"What?"
"Why did you stay with me so long?"
Harper stared.
It was a question she had asked herself.
Therapy had helped her answer.
"Because you didn't start by hurting me."
Derek looked confused.
"You started by making me feel special."
Understanding dawned.
"Then the rules came slowly."
Harper continued.
"If you'd told me on our first date that eventually you'd criticize my body, monitor my food, control finances, and convince me I was lucky you tolerated me, I would have left."
Derek's eyes lowered.
"But you gave me good days between bad ones."
She sighed.
"And I kept thinking the good version was the real you."
Derek whispered, "Wasn't it?"
Harper thought.
"Both were real."
He absorbed that.
Harper stood.
"I should go."
Derek pressed his hand to the glass.
She paused.
"Harper."
"Yeah?"
"I hope he makes you happy."
She smiled.
"He doesn't make me happy."
Derek frowned.
"I learned not to outsource that job."
Then:
"But he adds to it."
Derek smiled.
"That's better."
Harper lowered the phone.
Walked out.
Roman waited across the street beside the car.
She stopped.
"You came."
"Not inside."
"I told you not to."
"I followed instructions."
"Miracle."
Roman opened his arms.
Harper walked into them.
"How was it?"
"Finished."
He kissed her hair.
"Good."
The wedding took place seven days later.
Small.
Forty guests.
Eleanor cried before Harper even put on the dress.
"Mom."
"I waited three years for the wrong wedding and another three for the right one."
Harper laughed.
Kinsley attended.
At Harper's invitation.
Not maid of honor.
Not bridesmaid.
A guest.
Hope, nearly three, wore a tiny white dress and carried flowers.
She scattered half before the aisle.
Everyone laughed.
Elias stood beside Roman as best man.
Agent Hale attended.
Even Samantha sent a letter from prison.
Harper didn't read it that day.
Maybe later.
Roman waited beneath an arch overlooking Lake Michigan.
Same lake beside which Harper had confronted Derek.
Different future.
Harper walked toward him.
No shrinking.
No holding in her stomach.
No wondering what anyone thought.
Roman looked at her with tears in his eyes.
When she reached him, he whispered, "You look happy."
Harper smiled.
"I am."
The officiant began.
Their vows were simple.
Roman said:
"I promise never to confuse protecting you with controlling you. I promise to tell the truth even when the truth makes me look terrible."
Harper laughed.
"That's going to be often."
Guests laughed.
Roman smiled.
"I promise to ask. To listen. And to choose you without ever asking you to disappear inside that choice."
Harper cried.
Her vow:
"I spent years believing love meant earning permission to be enough."
She looked at Roman.
"You taught me that good love makes room."
Roman swallowed.
"I promise to make room for you too. For your grief. Your terrible coffee habits. Your excessive security systems."
Elias laughed loudly.
"And every version of the man you are still choosing to become."
They exchanged rings.
Kissed.
Applause rose.
Eleanor cried harder.
Hope shouted, "Again!"
Everyone laughed.
Roman kissed Harper again just to satisfy her.
For one perfect hour, everything was exactly right.
Then, during the reception, Agent Hale approached.
Harper groaned playfully.
"If this is about crime, come back tomorrow."
Hale smiled.
"It isn't."
She handed Harper an envelope.
"What?"
"Recovered evidence from your father's case. We finally received permission to release it."
Harper looked at Roman.
Inside was a small cassette tape.
Label:
FOR HARPER — WHEN SHE'S READY.
Her father's voice.
One final message.
Harper's wedding night would contain a conversation she had waited nearly half her life to hear.
May you like
Continue to Chapter 18…
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