Chapter 8 - CALEB'S BREAKING POINT
Caleb called me at midnight.
He was drunk,
his voice slurred and heavy with grief.
“Grace...
why?
Why did you have to go so far?”
“You were the one who went too far,
Caleb,” I said,
sitting in the dark of my living room.
“You let her do it.
You knew what she was going to say,
and you let her.”
“She’s my wife!” he screamed into the phone.
“I had to support her!”
“No,” I said.
“You had to support the truth.
And the truth is,
your wife is a cruel person.”
“She’s leaving me,
Grace.
Her father is forcing an annulment.
He says I’m a liability now.”
I felt a pang of sadness for the brother I used to have,
the one who fought the boy at school.
But that brother was dead,
replaced by this shell of a man.
“Maybe that’s for the best,” I said.
“She didn't love you,
Caleb.
She loved the Parker name and the Monroe connection.”
“I have nothing left,” he sobbed.
“I lost my job,
my wife,
my house...
everything.”
“You still have your sister,” I said,
my voice softening just a fraction.
“But only if you’re willing to be the man you used to be.”
“Come to the ballroom tomorrow at six p.m.”
“The Monroes will be there.
Mother will be there.”
“If you want a chance at a life,
Caleb,
you’ll stand with me this time.”
He hung up without answering.
I sat in the silence,
wondering if he would show up.
I had rented the ballroom for one hour.
The same chandeliers,
the same marble floors.
May you like
But this time,
the script would be different.
