Chapter 8 - Rebecca Comes Home
Rebecca returned to New York after twenty-two years.
She did not arrive for revenge.
That disappointed Vivian more than anger would have.
Rebecca simply wanted her family back on terms that did not require surrender.
Caleb met his sister at a quiet café.
Tessa went with him.
When Rebecca saw her brother, she cried before either of them spoke.
Caleb apologized.
Rebecca stopped him.
“You were thirteen.”
“I was thirty-four when Tessa came into my life.”
That distinction mattered.
He told Rebecca everything.
The engagement dinner.
The apartment.
The waiver.
The canceled wedding.
Rebecca listened.
Then she looked at Tessa.
“Thank you.”
Tessa frowned.
“For what?”
“For asking the question I wish somebody had asked my fiancé twenty years ago.”
“What question?”
“Whether he wanted to build a family with me or keep obeying the one he came from.”
Rebecca smiled sadly.
“He chose the second.”
Tessa reached across the table.
Rebecca took her hand.
That evening, Caleb asked his sister what she wanted from Vivian.
“Nothing.”
“An apology?”
“I wanted one for years.”
“And now?”
Rebecca looked toward the window.
“Now I want her to understand that access to me is a privilege, not a right.”
May you like
Those words eventually reached Vivian.
And for once, she had no argument that could defeat them.
