I had not expected her to apologize.After everything she had said, after the way her voice had trembled with years of anger and fear, I had prepared myself for silence… or worse, for her to walk away and leave me kneeling there like a man who had finally been stripped of everything he once believed defined him.But instead, she stood there, breathing hard, her shoulders still tense, her eyes still swollen from crying. The silence between us stretched long enough for me to feel every second settle into my bones. My knees ached slightly from remaining on the floor, but I did not move. I did not dare.Then she spoke.“I shouldn’t have said that like that.” Her voice was quieter now. Not soft, not gentle, but steadier than before. Controlled. For a moment, I wasn’t sure I had heard her correctly.I lifted my head slowly, meeting her gaze. There was no warmth in her eyes, but there was something else there now—something heavier than anger. Restraint. “I meant what I said,” she continued,
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