Chapter 16: He Finally Realized I Wasn't Coming Back

Luke came to my townhouse that evening.

I saw him through the window before he knocked.

For a moment, the sight of him brought back every version of myself that had once trusted him.

Then I remembered the marriage certificate.

The forged signature.

The money.

I opened the door but stayed behind the threshold.

"What do you want?"

Luke looked exhausted.

"I want to fix this."

I almost smiled.

"You don't fix something after spending months planning how to destroy it."

He lowered his voice.

"Maya and I made a mistake."

"You married her."

"It was complicated."

"No. It was deliberate."

He looked away.

"I never stopped caring about you."

That sentence hurt more than I expected.

Not because I believed him.

Because I finally understood how meaningless his words had become.

"If you cared about me, you wouldn't have used my money to build a life with someone else."

Luke stepped closer.

"I was going to pay you back."

"When?"

He had no answer.

"After the house closed? After Maya moved in? After you convinced me that your marriage was just paperwork?"

His jaw tightened.

"You don't understand the pressure I was under."

"I understand perfectly."

I handed him a copy of the financial records.

"You were under pressure, so you stole from the person who trusted you most."

He looked at the pages.

His face changed when he saw the total.

"Where did you get these?"

"From my accounts."

He swallowed.

"Elena, please. Don't send these to anyone."

There it was.

Not an apology.

Not regret.

Fear.

He was afraid of what would happen if the truth became official.

"You should have thought about that before you forged my signature."

Luke's expression went blank.

"You can't prove that."

"My attorney already has the documents."

Silence.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then Luke said quietly, "What do you want?"

I looked at him.

"Everything that belongs to me."

"And after that?"

"Nothing."

His face tightened.

"You really mean it."

"Yes."

He stared at me as if he were seeing me for the first time.

"You're actually walking away."

I nodded.

"I already did."

I closed the door.

This time, I didn't watch him through the window.

I didn't need to.

My future no longer depended on whether Luke finally understood what he had lost.