Chapter 12 - THE APOLOGY FALLON COULDN'T PERFORM
They met in Daniel’s conference room.
No mother.
No Michael.
No lawyers inside.
Fallon looked thinner.
Less polished.
Still expensive.
“Hi.”
Savannah said nothing.
Fallon started:
“I’m sorry.”
Savannah waited.
“For the slap.”
Waited.
“For dragging you.”
Waited.
“For the house.”
Better.
Then Fallon said:
“I hated you.”
Savannah looked up.
“Why?”
“Because you could leave.”
There.
Not military.
Not status.
Freedom.
Fallon continued:
“Mom needed me. Dad worried about me. Every mistake kept me important.”
Savannah stared.
“And you?”
“You could go somewhere none of us mattered.”
Savannah said:
“That wasn’t easy.”
“I know now.”
Then Fallon admitted she enjoyed the ballroom humiliation.
Not just anger.
She wanted Savannah small in front of people who admired Fallon.
Savannah’s face hardened.
“Thank you for not calling it a mistake.”
Fallon nodded.
Then:
“I did not know Emily would paste your signature.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Good answer.
“I knew Mom intended to proceed without asking you. I told myself the legal part was hers.”
Savannah understood.
Delegated conscience.
Then Fallon asked:
“Do you forgive me?”
Savannah answered:
“No.”
Fallon’s face fell.
Then Savannah continued:
“Not yet.”
Different.
Fallon nodded.
No pressure.
Then Savannah asked:
“Why did you sell to the Prescotts before marrying Michael?”
Fallon looked ashamed.
“Because I wanted to enter his family as someone who brought something.”
Savannah stared.
The house as dowry.
Status.
Again.
Fallon feared being seen as financially unstable by wealthy in-laws.
So she used family property to create an image of strength.
The same shame cycle as Ethan in earlier story. But here unique enough.
Savannah asked:
“Did Michael know you were in trouble?”
“Not how much.”
“So you lied to him too.”
“Yes.”
Fallon cried.
“The gala was supposed to prove I had made it.”
Savannah looked at her.
“And then you slapped the person who knew where you came from.”
Fallon nodded.
“Yes.”
That was the apology.
May you like
Not tears.
Recognition.
