Chapter 25 - AFTER VICTORIA
Victoria completed custody in her eighties and entered supervised release.
She moved into a modest luxury apartment she still lawfully owned.
She had money.
Less.
No authority.
She requested a meeting with me.
I agreed once.
She looked smaller without a boardroom.
Still elegant.
“Alexander.”
“Mother.”
She asked about Sophia.
“She’s well.”
“Emma?”
“Well.”
“You?”
“Also.”
Silence.
“I was jealous of them.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because you would have chosen them.”
“Yes.”
“I built everything around being the person you came to.”
“That was never supposed to be permanent.”
“I know now.”
She looked toward the window.
“When your helicopter disappeared, I thought you were dead for eleven hours.”
“I know.”
“For eleven hours, I imagined losing you.”
Then:
“When they called and said you were alive, I should have called Emma.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because during those eleven hours I had already seen how much control your death gave me.”
There it was.
Not foundation.
Not trust.
The deeper thing.
Control.
My death made her administrator of grief.
My survival threatened that role.
She chose the role.
I did not forgive her that day.
I did not need to.
Before leaving, she said:
“Tell Sophia I am sorry.”
“You can tell her if she chooses.”
May you like
She nodded.
No demand.
