Chapter 9 - What Marianne Had Known)
At one thirty in the morning, Elise finally left the hotel.
She did not go to the penthouse she had planned to share with Julian.
She went home with her father.
Gabriel kept a townhouse on East Seventy-Third Street that Elise had known since childhood.
Nothing inside had changed much.
Marianne's piano still stood near the windows.
Her books remained in the library.
A framed family photograph sat on the hall table.
Elise entered wearing hotel slippers beneath her damaged wedding gown.
The absurdity nearly made her laugh.
Instead she sat on the stairs.
Gabriel removed his jacket.
"Tea?"
Elise stared at him.
"Dad."
"Yes?"
"You own a bank."
"Not technically a bank."
She glared.
He corrected himself.
"Yes. Tea was probably the wrong opening."
Clara had gone home only after Elise promised to call.
Helena remained at the hotel with the forensic team.
For the first time all night, father and daughter were alone.
Elise looked at Gabriel.
"Why did you hide Aurelius from me?"
"I did not hide it."
"You never told me you still controlled it."
"You never asked."
"That is an irritating answer."
"I know."
She looked down at her gown.
"Did Mom know?"
"Everything."
"Of course she did."
A small smile appeared.
Then vanished.
Gabriel sat beside her.
Elise touched her bruised cheek.
"Did you know Julian was using me?"
"No."
"Did you suspect?"
Gabriel was silent.
"Dad."
"I disliked him."
"That is not the same."
"No."
"Why?"
Gabriel looked toward Marianne's photograph.
"He watched rooms."
"What does that mean?"
"Most people enter a room and notice people. Julian entered rooms and calculated rank."
Elise thought about it.
She had seen it.
She had simply interpreted it as social intelligence.
Gabriel continued.
"He was charming to anyone above him and impatient with anyone he considered below him."
"Why did you not tell me?"
"Would you have listened?"
Elise opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
Probably not.
Gabriel continued.
"I told myself you were thirty years old and entitled to make your own judgment."
"You were right."
"Tonight I do not feel right."
She looked at him.
"That was not your failure."
He turned toward her.
"I am your father."
"And I married Julian."
"I should have investigated."
"No."
Gabriel frowned.
Elise continued.
"If you had secretly investigated every man I dated, I would have hated you."
"Perhaps briefly."
She almost smiled.
"Dad."
He nodded.
"You are right."
A silence settled.
Then Gabriel stood.
"There is something you need to see."
He walked into the library.
Elise followed.
Gabriel opened an old wooden cabinet and removed a sealed envelope.
Her name was written on it in Marianne's handwriting.
Elise stopped.
"What is that?"
"Your mother wrote it during her final week."
Elise stared.
"You had this?"
"She asked me to give it to you when you married."
Pain moved through Elise's face.
"Why did you not give it to me before the ceremony?"
Gabriel looked ashamed.
"I was bringing it tonight."
His delayed flight.
His late arrival.
The letter remained unopened.
Elise took it with trembling hands.
"I do not know if I can."
"You do not have to tonight."
She opened it.
The paper smelled faintly of the cedar cabinet.
Marianne's handwriting leaned gently to the right.
My Elise,
If your father has followed instructions, which is never guaranteed when he believes he knows better, you are reading this near the beginning of your marriage.
Elise laughed through sudden tears.
Gabriel looked offended.
"She was unfair."
Elise kept reading.
I hope the person you married makes you feel more yourself, not less.
That sentence stopped her.
She read it again.
More yourself, not less.
She continued.
Love is not measured by how desperately someone says they need you. Need can become hunger, and hunger can become ownership. Love should leave you with more room to breathe.
Elise's vision blurred.
If one day you discover that the person beside you loves what you provide more than who you are, do not spend years proving your worth. Leave with your dignity before they teach you to doubt it.
Your father will want to fix everything. Make him tea. Tell him to sit down. Then decide for yourself.
Elise laughed again.
Gabriel muttered, "Your mother had a theme."
The final lines were shorter.
I chose your father because when I said no, he respected it. When I changed my mind, he respected that too.
Choose the person who understands that love never cancels your right to say no.
Always yours,
Mom
Elise pressed the letter against her chest.
For several minutes she cried.
Not for Julian.
Not exactly.
She cried for the version of herself who had stood in the bridal suite and tried to convince the mirror she was happy.
Gabriel remained nearby without touching her until she reached for his hand.
Then he sat beside her.
"I should have read this earlier."
"No."
She wiped her eyes.
"I needed it tonight."
Gabriel nodded.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE THIS. MY NAME IS ANNA KOVACS. I SAW THE NEWS FROM THE WEDDING. JULIAN DID TO ME WHAT HE DID TO YOU, ONLY WORSE. I HAVE SOMETHING YOUR LAWYER NEEDS.
Elise stared at the message.
Gabriel saw her face change.
"What is it?"
She handed him the phone.
He read.
His expression hardened.
Elise whispered, "Tomas said there were others."
Gabriel returned the phone.
"You do not have to involve yourself."
"Yes, I do."
"Elise."
She looked at him.
"If Julian has done this before, then what happened to me was not an accident."
Gabriel could not disagree.
Elise stood.
Her wedding gown rustled around her.
She looked absurd and exhausted and stronger than she had been twelve hours earlier.
"Call Helena."
"Now?"
"Mom said you should sit down and let me decide."
Gabriel stared at her.
Then a reluctant smile appeared.
"Your mother continues to be inconvenient from beyond the grave."
Elise looked at Marianne's letter.
"Good."
May you like
She picked up her phone.
"Because this is not over."
