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That month had passed in the blink of an eye. It felt like just yesterday when I woke up in the hospital with him at my bedside. It felt like just yesterday when we were shacked up in the hotel room in Paris, our sweaty bodies stuck together like glue. When he’d told me he slept around, I didn’t believe him…or I didn’t want to believe him. But after our last conversation, I wondered if he’d moved on.
I didn’t want to think about it.
“And he lied to you,” she said. “He was using you the entire time. You don’t owe him anything.”
Even if that were true, my heart continued to weep.
“Victor is handsome, strong, wealthy, and Dad likes him—”
“You’re really pushing for this, aren’t you?”
“Well, it would be a dream come true. We could be a close family again. I know nothing would make Daddy happier.”
Yes, having me under his thumb would really bring him joy.
“Victor said you two were really happy once.”
It was so long ago it was hard to remember, but we had been happy. If I hadn’t been raped, we’d probably still be married, about to celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary, having two little ones running around. “Catherine?”
“Yeah?”
“How would you feel if Victor were hurting me?”
All the color drained from her face.
“How would you feel if you knew he’d given me a broken arm?”
“That’s not fair—”
“It is fair, Catherine. Maybe you don’t care about yourself as much as you should, so imagining it happening to someone you love will help you understand. You don’t have kids, so it would be easy for you to leave.”
“Easy? I told you what would happen if I did that. I would lose everything.”
“And money is more important than happiness?”
“Laura, moneyishappiness.”
That was all my family cared about. Money and power. And if that were ever threatened, they would do anything to protect it. Literally. “Happiness is living a life that doesn’t revolve around money. Happiness is being at peace with whatever hand you’ve been dealt. You’re dependent on something for joy, which means you’re a prisoner to it, which means you’ll never truly be happy.”
Victor sat across from me in the restaurant, wearing a tight shirt on his muscled arms. He’d shaved that morning, so his hard jawline was on display. I used to think he was the most handsome man I’d ever seen, but now he came in second to someone else.
“Not hungry?” Victor had his arms on the table, a fork in one hand and a knife in the other.
“Not so much.”
“Didn’t go well with Catherine?”
“She’s brainwashed.”
“I’ll do all I can to keep Lucas on his best behavior.”
“I appreciate that, but that’s not your responsibility. Catherine should leave him.”
“Catherine has never known anything outside her father’s world. I’m not surprised.”
“And he did that by design.” He liked everything to be under his control. That included people.
He took a few bites of his food then washed it down with red wine.
