Chapter 9 - The Final Departure
The day we left for New York was bright and clear.
The moving trucks had already taken the last of our things from the Sterling estate.
I stood on the porch of the cottage one last time,
the place where I had spent seven years waiting for a man who wasn't there.
The garden was overgrown now,
the flowers wilted from neglect.
I looked at the window where I used to sit and watch for his car.
It felt like another lifetime.
Suddenly,
a taxi pulled up at the gate.
Dominic stepped out,
looking terrible.
He was wearing the same suit from the gala,
but it was wrinkled and stained.
He looked like a man who had been living on the streets.
The security guards tried to stop him,
but I signaled for them to let him through.
"Vivienne,"
he gasped,
walking up the driveway.
"Please."
"I have nothing left."
"The motel kicked me out."
"My parents won't even talk to me."
I looked at him,
and I felt nothing.
Not even the pity I had felt for Chloe.
"You have exactly what you deserve,
Dominic,"
I said.
"You wanted to be a man of power,
a man of status."
"Well,
now you’re a man of your own making."
"Is this what you wanted?"
Dominic looked at the cottage,
then back at me.
"I love you,"
he whispered.
"I never stopped loving you."
I let out a soft laugh.
"No,
Dominic,"
I said.
"You love the idea of me."
"You love the safety I provided."
"But you never loved Vivienne."
"If you did,
you wouldn't have been 'upgrading' with Elena."
I turned to the waiting SUV,
where Sophia was sitting.
"We’re leaving now,
Dominic."
"Don't come to New York."
"Don't try to find us."
"The restraining order is permanent."
Dominic reached out a hand,
but he didn't dare touch me.
"What about Sophia?"
he asked,
his voice breaking.
"She’ll grow up knowing the truth,"
I said.
"She’ll know her father was a man who chose paper over people."
"And she’ll know her mother was a Sterling who chose herself."
I stepped into the car and didn't look back.
As we drove away,
I saw him standing in the middle of the road,
a small,
lonely figure in a ruined suit.
He was a part of my past now,
a chapter that was finally closed.
I looked at Sophia,
who was looking at a book Alexander had bought her.
She looked happy.
She looked free.
May you like
And for the first time in a long time,
so did I.
