Chapter 8 - The Price of a Soul
The meeting was held in a neutral office,
surrounded by lawyers and cold carafes of water.
Garrick sat across from me,
his suit wrinkled,
his eyes bloodshot.
He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.
He looked like he hadn't eaten a real meal since he was kicked out of the house.
"Elena,"
he whispered,
reaching across the table.
"Please."
I didn't move.
I didn't flinch.
"The divorce papers are in front of you,
Garrick,"
I said.
"Sign them."
"I can't,"
he sobbed.
"I have nothing."
"The company is suing me for breach of contract."
"The bank has frozen our joint accounts."
"Mother is in a state-run facility because we can't afford her medication."
I felt a flicker of the old Elena,
the one who wanted to fix everything,
the one who felt guilty for other people's pain.
But then I remembered the bathroom floor.
I remembered the smell of the lawn mower.
I remembered the sound of the toilet flushing away my relief.
"You have exactly what you gave me,"
I said.
"You have the reality of your own choices."
"You told me that suffering would humble me."
"Is it working for you,
Garrick?"
"Are you humbled yet?"
He looked at the papers,
his hand shaking so much he could barely hold the pen.
"I loved you,"
he lied.
"You loved the way I made you look,"
I corrected him.
"You loved the way I served you."
"You loved having someone to look down on."
"But that woman died in that surgery."
"The woman sitting here today is someone you don't even know."
He signed the papers,
the ink smearing as a tear fell onto the page.
"What am I supposed to do?"
he asked,
looking up at me with the eyes of a child who had been caught breaking a toy.
"That’s not my concern,"
I said,
standing up.
"Maybe you can ask God for patience."
"That’s what your mother told me to do,
isn't it?"
I walked out of the room,
Ethan waiting for me in the hallway.
He didn't ask how it went.
He just put his arm around my shoulders and led me toward the elevator.
"Is it over?"
I asked as the doors closed.
"For you?"
Ethan asked.
"Yes."
"For them?"
"No."
"The criminal trial for the embezzlement starts next month."
"And the civil suit for medical neglect is just getting warmed up."
"They’ll be paying for the rest of their lives,
Elena."
May you like
"Not just in money."
"In the knowledge that they were defeated by the person they thought was the weakest."
