Chapter 22 - THE LETTER REVISITED
"I kept it," Clara said softly, holding the paper between her hands without opening it.
"Why? That letter represents the worst day of my life," Damon admitted, leaning against the kitchen counter.
"It also represents the day we stopped living a lie," Clara replied, taking a slow step toward him.
"If your mother hadn't tried to destroy us with that paper, we would have entered a marriage built on hidden quicksand."
Damon looked down, a wave of painful nostalgia washing over him as he remembered the broken floral arch.
"You could have walked away forever, Clara. You had every legal and moral right to never speak to me again," he said.
"I didn't want to walk away from the truth, Damon. But walking away from the illusion was necessary," she explained.
She placed the letter down on the coffee table, smoothing out the creases with a slow, deliberate motion of her palm.
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"What are you saying, Clara?" Damon asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he closed the distance between them.
"I'm saying that the wedding was canceled, Damon... but our story was never actually finished."
