Chapter 15 - VANESSA’S FINAL DEFEAT

My father arranged for me to visit Vanessa one last time. Not to forgive her. Not to reconcile. But to let her know the truth had finally won.

We met in the same visiting room as before. Behind the glass. Through the telephone.

Vanessa looked tired. Her hair was pulled back. Her face was pale. But when she saw me, her eyes filled with tears.

“You know,” she said. It was not a question.

I nodded. “I know everything. About the adoption. About the deal. About Julian. About everything.”

Vanessa closed her eyes. “I did it for you. Every terrible thing I did… I did it because I wanted you. I wanted to be your mother.”

“You had me,” I said. “And you hurt me. You tore my dress. You told me I was worthless. You tried to make me hate Elena. You treated me like garbage.”

“Because I was jealous!” she cried. “Because she had what should have been mine! Because you loved her more than you ever loved me!”

“I loved her because she was good to me!” I said. “She loved me without condition. She did not try to change me. She did not try to break me. She was my mother in every way that counts. And you… you were only blood. And blood is not enough.”

Vanessa stared at me. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

“I am your mother,” she whispered.

“Elena chose me,” I said. “And I choose her. And I choose the man who raised me. And I choose Claire. And I choose the family that loves me—not the one that hurt me.”

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I stood up. “You lost, Vanessa. You lost everything. And you lost me too.”

I placed the telephone back on its cradle and walked away. I did not look back. I did not say goodbye. For the first time in my life, I was truly free of her.