Chapter 22 - Aurelia Gets ReleasedAurelia eventually completed her sentence.
Supervised release followed.
No contact with Sorrel.
Restrictions remained around children's fiduciary accounts.
There was no glamorous comeback.
No movie-style downfall.
No endless misery.
Punishment had boundaries.
At twenty-three, Sorrel rejected mediated contact.
At twenty-five, she still said no.
At twenty-seven, she changed her mind.
“One meeting.”
I didn't attend.
The meeting lasted thirty-six minutes.
Sorrel asked:
“Why the chain?”
Aurelia answered:
“Because I wanted you to stop leaving the room when I ordered you to serve.”
Not safety.
Control.
“Why servant?”
“Because I resented that Hadrian's house and money existed around you before me.”
“Did you hate me?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did you want me gone?”
“Yes.”
“Forever?”
Aurelia hesitated.
“I wanted you somewhere I didn't have to compete with you every day.”
There was no hug.
No cinematic forgiveness.
Sorrel allowed one letter each year through counsel.
Nothing more.
May you like
Sometimes closure is not reconciliation.
Sometimes closure is finally receiving an honest answer and deciding what to do with it.
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