Chapter 13 - Daniel's Version
Daniel wanted to meet.
My attorney recommended against meeting privately.
So we arranged a supervised conversation connected to the ongoing family proceedings.
When Daniel entered, he looked smaller.
Not physically.
Psychologically.
The confidence that once filled every room around him was gone.
He sat opposite me.
“You look good.”
I said nothing.
“I miss you.”
Still nothing.
Finally he sighed.
“Vanessa, I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“For Thailand.”
“Be specific.”
His jaw tightened.
“I shouldn't have taken your passport.”
“And?”
“Your phone.”
“And?”
“Canceled the flight.”
“And?”
He looked irritated.
Even now, apology was something he believed I was making unnecessarily difficult.
“I was under pressure.”
“From whom?”
“Vale.”
“Your mother?”
He looked away.
“And yourself?”
His eyes returned to mine.
“You don't understand the debt.”
“You're right. Because you lied about it.”
“I was trying to fix things.”
“With my inheritance.”
“With our future.”
“No. With my property.”
His face hardened.
There was the Daniel I remembered.
Then I asked the question that had haunted me.
“Did you know who I was before we met?”
He said nothing.
That was the answer.
“How long?”
“My mother mentioned you.”
“Why?”
“She knew your father's company.”
“Did you approach me because of the shares?”
“No.”
Too fast.
“Daniel.”
“No.”
“Then why didn't you tell me you knew?”
“Because it would sound bad.”
I almost laughed.
“You think?”
He leaned forward.
“I loved you.”
Maybe he believed that.
Perhaps some part of him truly had.
But love without respect had become possession.
“You don't strand someone you love in a foreign country.”
“I knew you'd be safe.”
“You stole my passport.”
“I knew you'd call Marcus.”
I froze.
“What?”
He looked away.
“You talked about the emergency code once.”
Suddenly the entire plan became even crueler.
“You knew I had someone.”
“I assumed.”
“Then why did your mother write that note?”
“I didn't know she did.”
I believed him.
Strangely, I believed that part.
Evelyn had added her own cruelty.
Daniel had designed coercion.
His mother had wanted humiliation.
“Why take Sophie?”
“She’s my daughter.”
“She didn't want to go.”
“She doesn't know what she wants.”
“She was terrified.”
His expression changed.
Pain.
Real pain.
“I never wanted to hurt Sophie.”
“But you did.”
He looked down.
For the first time, Daniel had no defense.
When the meeting ended, he said, “Is there any chance?”
“No.”
He nodded slowly.
Then he left.
I expected triumph.
Instead I felt grief.
Not for the marriage I had.
For the marriage I thought I had.
Outside, Marcus waited.
“How'd it go?”
“I got my answer.”
“Which one?”
I looked back at the closed door.
“The only one that matters.”
May you like
Daniel might have loved me in whatever way he understood love.
But I no longer wanted to live inside his definition of it.
