Chapter 10 - Vanessa's Confession
Vanessa recovered under police protection.
She asked to see Clara.
Their meeting was uncomfortable.
Vanessa confessed everything.
Six months after Clara disappeared, Richard told her Clara might be alive.
Vanessa had said nothing.
Later, when she began dating Ethan, Richard encouraged the relationship.
Vanessa knew why.
She continued anyway.
“I convinced myself you had chosen to disappear.”
Clara stared at her.
“You knew I had a child.”
“Yes.”
“And you watched Noah cry for me.”
Vanessa lowered her head.
“Yes.”
Clara's voice trembled.
“I can't forgive that today.”
“I know.”
“Maybe not ever.”
“I know.”
Vanessa nodded.
“I didn't ask you here for forgiveness.”
She handed Clara a small box.
Inside was Clara's wedding ring.
Clara stopped breathing.
“My father had it.”
“Why?”
“He kept trophies.”
Clara closed her fingers around the ring.
When she returned home, Ethan saw it immediately.
Neither spoke.
She placed it on the table.
“I don't know if I can wear it again.”
Ethan nodded.
“Then don't.”
She looked surprised.
“I want you back,” he said. “But I don't want the woman you were two years ago. That woman went through something I will never fully understand.”
He touched the ring.
“And I'm not the man you left that night.”
Clara's eyes filled.
“So what are we?”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“Two people with a three-year-old who thinks pancakes solve everything.”
From the hallway came Noah's voice.
May you like
“They do!”
For the first time, Clara laughed without pain following immediately afterward.
