Chapter 11: The Reckoning
The reckoning came one afternoon when Amelia received a text from Victor. After weeks of silence, he finally reached out, his message short and to the point: Can we talk?
Amelia's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't expected this. She hadn't expected him to reach out again. But she knew, deep down, that this was something she had to face—once and for all.
They met at a small café in the corner of the city, a place that had always been neutral ground for them. Victor looked the same, his appearance polished, his demeanor calm, but there was an unmistakable heaviness in his eyes.
"I've been thinking a lot about us," he began, his voice steady but laced with a subtle vulnerability. "And I realized something… I don't regret what happened between us. Not everything, anyway. But I don't think I ever really understood you, Amelia. I saw what I wanted to see. And I was so caught up in that, I didn't take the time to understand who you really were."
Amelia stared at him, stunned by his words. "Victor, I—"
"I'm sorry," he interrupted, holding up a hand. "I should've seen it sooner. I should've seen how much you were struggling, how torn you were between me and Elena. And I should've respected that. But I didn't. And I'm sorry for pushing you into something you weren't ready for."
Amelia's chest tightened. She had always known that Victor loved her in his own way, but it wasn't enough to make her stay. Still, hearing him acknowledge her pain, hearing him take responsibility, was a form of closure that she hadn't realized she needed.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I'm sorry too, for not being honest with myself—and with you."
As they parted ways that day, Amelia felt a weight lift from her shoulders. It wasn't the closure she had expected, but it was the closure she needed.