Chapter 27 - The Question Sophie Needed to Ask
Six months later, Sophie asked to see Jack.
Not because Megan suggested it.
Because Sophie wanted an answer.
Their therapist arranged a supervised family session at the correctional facility.
Ethan chose to come too.
Jack sat across from his children.
For several minutes nobody spoke.
Then Sophie asked the question she had carried since Terminal C.
“Why did you want to take us to Paris without Mom?”
Jack looked at Megan.
She gave him nothing.
This answer belonged to him.
“I was selfish.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Sophie had grown braver.
Jack nodded.
“You’re right.”
He tried again.
“I wanted a new life without losing anything from my old one. I wanted Olivia. I wanted money. I wanted you and Ethan. And I thought your mom would eventually accept whatever I decided.”
“Did you love us?”
“Yes.”
Sophie’s eyes filled.
“Then why wasn’t that enough?”
Jack struggled.
Finally he said, “Because loving someone doesn’t automatically make you a good person to them.”
Megan looked at him.
For once, he had said something true without trying to make himself look better.
Ethan spoke next.
“Were you choosing Olivia over us?”
“No.”
Jack shook his head.
“I was choosing myself over everyone.”
Sophie cried quietly.
Jack did not reach for her.
He had finally learned that remorse did not grant permission to touch someone who was hurting.
At the end of the session, Ethan hugged him briefly.
Sophie did not.
Jack accepted both decisions.
On the drive home, Sophie rested her head against the window.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t forgive him yet.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Maybe someday.”
“That belongs to you.”
May you like
Sophie nodded.
For Megan, that was enough.
