Ch. 13: The Price of Silence

The morning came in grey and quiet, the way it always did before everything changed.

Emily crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to. Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do. Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Emily said. "I'm asking you to listen." "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Emily said. "I'm asking you to listen."

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Emily said. "I'm asking you to listen." There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do.

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered.

Every choice had a price. Emily had known that for years, and still the knowing never made it easier.

"You shouldn't have come," he said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. "You shouldn't have come," he said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Emily said. "I'm asking you to listen."

The door closed softly, but the sound of it stayed with her for a long time.