Chapter 11 - THE APOLOGY WITHOUT REMORSE
Andrew waited in the mansion’s empty ballroom.
Most of the furniture had been covered.
The chandeliers remained lit, but the room no longer felt alive.
Without guests, servants, and music, it was only a large space filled with echoes.
Mariana entered with Helena and Gabriel.
Andrew looked exhausted.
He had changed into a dark suit, but his shirt was wrinkled and his eyes were red.
“I asked to speak privately,” he said.
“Helena is my attorney.”
“And him?”
“My security.”
Andrew gave a bitter laugh.
“You think I would hurt you?”
“You already did.”
The answer silenced him.
Mariana stopped several feet away.
“This is your opportunity to speak.”
Andrew looked at Helena.
“Everything said here is confidential?”
“No,” Helena replied.
Andrew’s jaw tightened.
Then he turned to Mariana.
“I made a mistake.”
Mariana waited.
“I was angry.”
She continued waiting.
“Brenda manipulated me.”
Still, Mariana said nothing.
Andrew’s frustration appeared.
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
“I just told you.”
“No.”
“You gave me excuses.”
Andrew paced across the marble floor.
“Our marriage had problems.”
“You were always working.”
“You cared more about the company than you cared about me.”
Mariana almost smiled.
The company he claimed she cared about too much was the company she had saved for him.
“You asked me to rescue Whitmore Global.”
“I did not ask you to control it.”
“You never objected while the money was arriving.”
“I felt like a guest in my own business.”
“You felt threatened because I was capable.”
Andrew turned toward her.
“Do you understand what it was like?”
“Everyone listened when you spoke.”
“Every banker trusted you.”
“Every negotiation changed when you entered the room.”
“And you hated me for it.”
“I wanted to be respected.”
“So you humiliated me.”
“I wanted one thing that belonged to me.”
Mariana looked around the mansion.
“The house did not belong to you.”
“The company did not belong to you.”
“The cars did not belong to you.”
“The power did not belong to you.”
“You borrowed all of it.”
Andrew’s face hardened.
“And what did I have?”
“You had a wife who loved you.”
The words struck harder than shouting.
Mariana’s voice softened, but there was no warmth in it.
“You had someone who protected your name when you had done nothing to deserve protection.”
“You had loyalty.”
“You had trust.”
“You had a second chance every time you lied.”
“And you destroyed all of it for a woman who was preparing to leave you.”
Andrew’s eyes became wet.
For a moment, he looked like the man Mariana had married.
Then he said the words that revealed everything.
“Give me back the company.”
Mariana understood.
The tears were not for her.
They were for what he had lost.
“No.”
“I built Whitmore Global.”
“You inherited its name.”
“I can repair this.”
“You are the damage.”
Andrew stepped toward her.
Gabriel moved immediately.
Andrew stopped.
Mariana reached into her handbag and placed divorce papers on a covered table.
May you like
“You wanted me out of your life.”
“Now you have your wish.”
