He Deceived Me So I Destroyed His Family’s Legacy Chapter 37
The doctor stood at the bottom of the steps and asked if we wanted to go back to Cold Spring.
Lily looked at me.
“Nora, where do you want to go?”
For so long, someone else had always decided for me.
Adrian decided who I should marry. Julian decided what my child should be called. Vanessa decided what I ought to give up.
Later, all I could think about was getting Lily as far away as possible.
Only in this moment did I truly ask myself where I wanted to go.
The yard lights came on.
The old house no longer felt cold and empty.
The upstairs windows were open, and the evening breeze stirred the new curtains.
I smiled.
“Tonight, let’s stay here.”
The doctor nodded.
“Then I’ll come back tomorrow.”
He took a few steps, then stopped.
“And the day after, if that’s all right?”
I looked at him.
He didn’t come any closer. He didn’t push for an answer.
He just waited.
Suddenly I thought of that boat leaving Manhattan.
The whole way, he had never asked what I could give him in return.
He only asked if Lily was in pain, if I was tired.
“That’s all right.”
He smiled, too.
No promises. No bargains.
Just a very ordinary tomorrow.
From inside the house, Lily called,
“Nora, the apples are sliced.”
I turned and went back in.
There were three plates on the table.
Outside the window, New York was a distant hum, the lights coming on one by one.
But this time, no storm in the world could ever drag us back to that mansion.
I once thought Adrian pulling me from the mud meant he had saved my life.
Later, I understood.
The person who pulled me out was myself.
Lily held out the sweetest slice of apple to me.
I took it.
A soft knock came at the door.
Lily and I rose together.
The light from the hall fell over us.
This time, we opened the door not because we were waiting for someone to save us.
We opened it because we finally had the strength to leave a light on for someone else.
And the life ahead, at last, belonged only to us.
The End