Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN I COULD NEVER CLAIM
I didn't tell Elena how I felt.
Not then.
Not while Thomas was recovering.
Not while Mia was learning what it meant to have her father in her life.
I stayed away.
Helped when asked.
And gave the family space.
Thomas began rehabilitation.
His recovery involved medical treatment, counseling, and gradual rebuilding of everyday routines.
Elena supported him.
But four years of separation had changed both of them.
They were no longer the same people who'd kissed goodbye on the morning he disappeared.
Sometimes they laughed.
Sometimes they cried.
Sometimes they sat in silence because neither knew what to say.
One afternoon, Elena asked to speak with me.
We met in a public garden near the hospital.
She looked exhausted.
“Luca.”
I smiled faintly.
“Hello.”
She sat beside me.
“Thank you.”
I shook my head.
“You don't owe me that.”
“Yes,” she said. “I do.”
I looked at her.
She continued.
“You listened to Mia. You believed her when everyone else would have dismissed her.”
I swallowed.
“She was telling the truth.”
Elena nodded.
“And you helped find Thomas.”
I looked away.
“I'm glad he's home.”
She studied me.
“Are you?”
I turned.
“Of course.”
Her eyes filled.
“Then why have you been avoiding us?”
I couldn't answer.
She looked down.
Then whispered:
“Luca, I know.”
My chest tightened.
“Elena—”
She shook her head.
“Please don't say it.”
I closed my eyes.
She continued.
“I care about you.”
My heart pounded.
“But Thomas is my husband.”
“I know.”
“And Mia needs time.”
“I know.”
She began crying.
“I don't know what my life is going to look like.”
I took a breath.
“Then don't decide today.”
She looked at me.
I smiled sadly.
“Take all the time you need.”
When she left, I remained on the bench.
The city moved around me.
Cars.
Children.
People walking dogs.
Ordinary life.
May you like
For twenty years, I'd believed that if I wanted something badly enough, I could take it.
Now I understood that real love sometimes meant refusing to take what wasn't yours.
