Chapter 16 - The Apology He Could Barely Say
Ethan took Margaret to a quiet private clinic that evening.
He stayed beside her while she received fluids and ate warm soup in small spoonfuls.
The bakery box sat unopened on the windowsill.
Margaret noticed him staring at it.
“You remembered lemon.”
His face crumpled.
“Mom, I’m sorry.”
She reached for his hand.
He pulled closer, kneeling beside the bed.
“I believed her,” he said. “You were trying to tell me, and I believed her.”
“She made sure you didn’t hear me.”
“I should have come home.”
“You were working.”
“I should have checked.”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.
“You trusted your wife. That was not a crime.”
“It left you alone.”
“No,” she said firmly. “What she did left me alone.”
Ethan lowered his head.
For years, he had believed strength meant solving every problem.
But he could not erase what had happened.
He could only face it.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me tonight.”
Margaret squeezed his hand.
“You came back.”
“Too late.”
“You came back before she took my name, my property, and my belief that you loved me.”
Ethan looked up.
“I never stopped.”
“I know that now.”
He opened the cake box.
The frosting had shifted when he crushed the cardboard earlier, but the words remained visible.
Happy Birthday, Mom.
Margaret laughed through her tears.
Ethan found two plastic forks.
They ate cake from the box after midnight.
May you like
For the first time in months, Margaret ate without asking permission.
👉 Margaret was finally safe, but justice would require her to walk back into the mansion and face every lie Victoria had created.
