Chapter 15 - The Private Meeting
Two days before the final hearing,
I agreed to meet Gideon one last time. It wasn't out of pity,
but a need for closure,
a desire to look him in the eye without a team of lawyers between us.
We met in a private room at the British Museum,
surrounded by ancient artifacts and silent stone statues. It felt fitting,
a graveyard of empires past.
He was waiting for me,
sitting at a long wooden table,
his coat draped over the back of the chair.
He looked years older,
the vitality that once defined him completely drained away.
"Thank you for coming,
Clara,"
he said, his voice quiet,
devoid of the arrogance that used to irritate me.
"I didn't think you would."
"I wanted to see you one last time,
Gideon,"
I said,
sitting opposite him,
keeping the width of the table between us.
"To see if there was anything left of the man I married."
He looked down at his hands,
his fingers tracing the wood grain of the table.
"I am sorry,"
he whispered,
the words sounding strange coming from his lips.
"I know it means nothing now,
but I am sorry.
I got lost in the game,
Clara.
I thought I could have everything,
control everything."
"You didn't see me as a person,
Gideon,"
I said,
my voice calm,
free of anger.
"I was just a box you checked.
The beautiful wife from a good family to make you look respectable while you built your empire."
"That's not true,"
he countered softly,
looking up to meet my eyes.
"I did care for you.
In my own way."
"Your own way was a prison,
Gideon. It was a cold kitchen and three years of silence.
And then you had a child with another woman on our anniversary.
There is no coming back from that."
He let out a long,
shuddering sigh,
realizing the truth of my words.
"Felicity sold me out,"
he muttered,
a touch of bitterness returning to his tone.
"She gave Vance the files."
"She did what she had to do to survive,
just like I did,"
I replied.
"You abandoned her too,
Gideon.
The moment the scandal broke,
you ran to London to save your company,
not to protect her or your son."
He had no answer for that,
for the truth was undeniable.
He was a man who only loved his reflection,
and now that reflection was shattered.
I stood up,
buttoning my coat.
"I'll see you in court,
May you like
Gideon.
Let's finish this."
