Chapter 13 - Elena Finally Told Me Why She Had Walked Away Seven Years EarlierElena and I sat outside after Lily went to bed.
She told me the truth.
She hadn't left because she stopped loving me.
She left because she loved me enough to risk disappearing.
Nico had threatened her.
My father had pressured her.
And she had believed that if I knew about Lily, I would bring the entire criminal world down on their heads.
She had chosen survival.
I understood.
But I also realized something.
We had wasted seven years.
Not because of hatred.
Because of fear.
I took her hand.
“I'm sorry.”
She cried.
“So am I.”
We didn't fix everything that night.
Real life doesn't work that way.
But we began.
Slowly.
Honestly.
Together.
Then Lily appeared at the door.
“Are you two fighting?”
I smiled.
“No.”
She looked suspicious.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She climbed onto the chair between us.
“I want pancakes tomorrow.”
Elena laughed.
“I'll make them.”
Lily looked at me.
“You make them.”
I stared.
“Why me?”
“Because Daddy's pancakes are funny.”
I laughed.
And for the first time, the future felt more frightening to me than the past.
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Because now I had something to lose.
But I also had something worth living for.
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