Souls Remember What Matters — Corey Gibson 11
Chapter 11–Lost
DARIUS
“No, I won’t go back.”
Her words had me going very still, shock and a bit of anger rushing through my veins, but I refused to give up. This was just Sera being stubborn, digging her heels in like she always did when she felt cornered. She’d come around once she realized how unreasonable she was being.
“Be rational about this,” I said, keeping my voice calm and reasonable despite how fast she was making my heart race. I took a slow step forward, crossing my arms over my chest as I held her uncharacteristically cold
gaze.
“If you really want to work, I can arrange something at my company. A comfortable position in public relations, maybe, or event planning. Something that won’t stress you out too much,” I considered the suggestion and it appealed to me the more I thought about it.
It was better to have her closer to Luna, closer to her family.
Not running around with a man who I’ve never met, letting him touch her and whisper in their ears in front of
everyone.
She could work closer, to me.
Sera’s eyes burned with something cold, her stance going rigid as she took a step back, creating more distance between us as though my proximity repulsed her.
“You mean I should continue submitting to you even at work?” She tilted her head to the side. “You can’t let go of the control you have over me, is that it?”
Her tone was not harsh, but it sparked something uncomfortable in my chest.
I didn’t like how she was looking at me.
Or how she was making me feel in that moment.
Why does she speak like I am against her?
I just want what’s best for her, for our family.
“That’s not what I meant.” I loosened my tie, feeling suddenly warm in the hallway. “I’m trying to be supportive here. But running off to New York to work for some stranger when you could have a good position at Blackwood Industries–it doesn’t make sense,” I shook my head, “This is unlike you, Sera.”
“That’s not fair, Darius.” Sera looked straight at me, and I could clearly see the struggle and pain on her face.” You used to think I was a good wife and mother until I chose to do something for myself, until I chose my own happiness…”
For a second, no one spoke. Had I really been so selfish as to leave my wife stranded at home? My breath suddenly began to swell. In the past, my competitors never fazed me in any business negotiation; I always came out on top. But with Sera, I was helpless.
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I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache building behind my eyes.
“Fine. If you insist on working for this Johnson person, at least you can do one thing to make this whole mess right.”
“What?”
“You owe Vivienne an apology.” The words came out firmer than I’d intended, but maybe that’s what she needed to hear. “She’s been incredibly gracious about what happened in the greenhouse. She doesn’t blame you for losing control, even though you hurt her pretty badly.”
Sera went very still. “Excuse me?”
“Vivienne told me she doesn’t want to press charges or cause more drama for our family. She knows you were jealous and acted without thinking. The least you can do is apologize and use your connection with AJ to help make her dream come true.”
I watched Sera’s face, expecting to see guilt or shame or at least some recognition that Vivienne was being the bigger person here. Instead, her expression went completely blank.
“She’s been so understanding,” I continued, warming to my theme. “She even told Luna that she forgives you completely. Can’t you see how generous that is? How much she cares about keeping our family peaceful?”
“Generous.” Sera repeated the word like it tasted bad.
“Yes, generous. She could have made this much worse for you, but she chose kindness instead. That’s the kind of person she is.” I stepped closer, hoping she could hear the sincerity in my voice. “Maybe if you got to know her better, you’d understand why I–why we care about her so much.”
For a long moment, Sera just stared at me. I couldn’t read her expression at all, which was strange. Usually I could tell exactly what she was thinking–she’d never been good at hiding her emotions.
“You really believe that,” she said finally. “You actually think I hurt her on purpose.” There was a crack in her voice, a glimpse of the Sera I knew in her eyes when she said those words. It wasn’t a question, it was a statement and I didn’t like the look in her eyes.
I felt a pang in my chest, I couldn’t tell what it was, but I knew I had to be softer with her. She was my wife, despite it all.
“I think you were upset and you acted without thinking. It happens. But Vivienne’s being incredibly mature about the whole thing, and you should match that energy.”
“I’m not a child who needs a lesson. I will not apologize for something I didn’t do and then use my job to help the woman who’s already taken up my position in my family, how could you ask that of me?”
Sera breathed hard. Her voice was raw.
No, Vivienne didn’t replace her. It was Sera who chose to leave everything she had behind.
My jaw clenched. “Vivienne is just a friend.” I repeated, somehow I was beginning to sound like a broken record.
How much more convincing will it take to make Sera trust me again?
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Vivienne wanted me back, but God, I told her no.
It took all my willpower to think about my wife, child… the responsibilities I had towards them, duties I simply couldn’t abandon…it took everything out of me to give up on the woman I once loved deeply that it left a permanent scar.
I made a choice. I chose my family. But why was my wife making everything so difficult now by pulling away from me?
Why was she making me feel like my choice was foolish?
She used to trust me.
What’s so different now?
She looked pale and exhausted, and did not answer, as if she had decided to give up. My heart was beating much faster than I thought it would.
“Luna needs you. I need you. This whole AJ thing–it’s not real life, Sera. Real life is our family, our home, our responsibilities. Come home where you belong. Luna is asking for you every night. Don’t you care about that?”
Her eyes suddenly opened wide. I had shaken her decision, I thought.
“I miss Luna.” 1
“Come home. Stop this foolishness and come back to your family.”
“My family.” She looked at me for a long moment, and I had the strangest feeling she was seeing me clearly for the first time. “The family where I have to apologize for things I didn’t do and help another woman seduce my husband because she’s dying and that makes her more important than me.”
“That’s not-”
“The family where my four–year–old daughter tells strangers she wants a new mother while my husband stands there and smiles.” Her voice was getting stronger, more sure. “The family where I’m supposed to be grateful for scraps of attention and never, ever cause any inconvenience by having feelings or opinions or a life of my own.”
“Sera-”
“A family where my choice to is being dismissed as ‘not real‘ just because it isn’t what ‘you‘ want for me.” Each word hit me like a punch. “Sera, you’re twisting everything around-”
“No, Darius. I’m seeing it clearly for the first time.” She stepped back from me, and the distance felt like a canyon opening between us. “I will never apologize to Vivienne for something she did to herself. I will never help her career, and I will never come crawling back to be your convenient, grateful little wife who accepts whatever scraps you throw her way.”
The hallway suddenly felt too small, too warm. “You’re making a huge mistake.”
“Maybe. But it’s my mistake to make.” She turned to walk away, then stopped and looked back at me. “Tell Luna I love her. Tell her I’m working hard to build a life where she can be proud of her mother instead of ashamed of
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her.”
“She’s not ashamed-”
But Sera was already walking away, her black dress swishing around her legs as she disappeared back toward the ballroom.
I stood alone in the hallway, my reflection staring back at me from the dark windows. For the first time in my life, I felt like I’d just lost an argument I didn’t even know I was having.
And I had no idea how to win it back.
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