A Joke, A Lifelong Regret Chapter 10
A year later, I transferred to the San Francisco office.
On the day I left, I was going through old things.
In the back of a drawer, I found it. The encrypted earpiece Damian had given me all that time ago.
Maybe out of boredom.
Maybe something else.
I put it on.
I didn’t open the Bluetooth connection.
All I heard was a clean, steady hum.
I laughed a little and was about to take it off.
Then a familiar voice came through from the other side.
The future Damian.
“Elena. Is that you?”
I said nothing.
He heard my breathing and didn’t push.
When he spoke again, there was something in his voice that didn’t quite fit. Something that sounded almost like relief.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I kept trying to figure out how you’d known everything. Whether you heard us talking through the earpiece from the very first night I gave it to you.”
I didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”
For a moment after he finally heard my voice, Damian didn’t speak.
Then a low sound came through. Something close to a laugh.
“You know what?”
“You turned out brilliantly.”
“You’re one of the most respected executives in San Francisco right now.”
“You built Hart Consulting into something real.”
“Your future is wide open.”
A year ago, my choices had changed what was supposed to happen.
The Elena who was supposed to lose her mind over Damian and Aria, who was supposed to rot in prison with her life destroyed, she didn’t exist anymore.
“Elena.”
His voice had gone rough.
“But you’ve never agreed to see me.’
“All I’ve had is this earpiece. I just kept waiting.”
“I thought maybe I’d never hear your voice again.”
“Are you still. Do you still hate me?”
I paused.
“No.”
“You and Aria. Neither of you are worth hating.”
“Hating someone takes time and energy.”
“And my time is too valuable.”
Silence on the other end.
After a long moment, Damian let out a quiet sound. Not quite a laugh.
“Elena Hart. You’ve become someone really good.’
I looked up at the sky.
Yeah.
I wasn’t the girl who used to curl up in her shell and wait for someone else to come protect her.
In the quiet, I took off the earpiece and dropped it in the trash.
And cut every last thread between myself and Damian Vale.
Before I boarded my flight, I took one last look at the city I’d lived in for over twenty years.
Neon lights everywhere, burning through the dark.
My life. My real life. It was just getting started.