Chapter 19 - THE LAST THING EVELYN TOOK
Evelyn accepted a plea agreement three months later.
She admitted to conspiracy involving unauthorized access to private medical information and interference with personal correspondence.
Other charges related to the school incident remained disputed because she denied ordering Helen to approach Emma.
Helen received a separate sentence.
Graham avoided prison by cooperating fully and returning most of the money he had received.
Alessandra faced no criminal charges connected to the medical records because prosecutors could not prove she knowingly requested falsification.
That did not mean Luca forgave her.
He did not speak to his mother for four months.
Then Emma changed that.
“Why don’t we have a grandma?”
Luca looked at me helplessly.
That was how Alessandra Moretti eventually found herself standing outside my apartment holding a box of cookies.
No security announcement.
No family lawyer.
Just cookies.
I opened the door.
She looked uncomfortable.
Good.
“I would like to see the children.”
“They are not a way to repair things with Luca.”
“I know.”
“They are not heirs first.”
“I know.”
“They are children.”
Her eyes lowered.
“I know.”
I studied her for a long time.
Then I moved aside.
Emma liked her immediately because Alessandra allowed her to eat two cookies before dinner.
Eli remained suspicious.
Like his mother.
Progress was slow.
That became the rule for all of us.
Slow.
Luca rented an apartment near mine instead of insisting we move into his penthouse.
He kept clothes for the twins there.
Homework supplies.
Emma’s favorite cereal.
A ridiculous number of soccer balls for Eli.
We developed schedules.
School nights.
Weekends.
Family dinners.
Sometimes Luca and I were together.
Sometimes we were simply parents.
Then one evening he took me to the restaurant where everything had started.
I nearly refused.
“That place ruined my lunch.”
“It improved my life.”
“You were not the one chased by paparazzi.”
“Fair.”
We went anyway.
The same manager greeted us.
This time, no Evelyn.
No children.
Just us.
Luca chose the table where I had been sitting when he first saw the twins.
“You planned this.”
“Yes.”
“You are still dramatic.”
“Yes.”
After dinner, he handed me a small box.
I stared at it.
“Luca.”
“It is not what you think.”
I opened it.
Inside was my old wedding ring.
The ring I had left behind after our divorce.
My eyes filled.
“I kept it.”
“Why?”
“I told myself it was because it was valuable.”
“And the truth?”
“I couldn’t throw away the only physical thing left from when you believed in me.”
I touched the ring.
“I don’t want you to wear it.”
“Good.”
“I want you to decide what happens to it.”
I closed the box.
“What happened to your ring from Evelyn?”
“Returned.”
“To her?”
“To the jeweler.”
I laughed.
Then Luca became serious.
“I’m not asking you to marry me.”
“Good.”
“Yet.”
I narrowed my eyes.
He smiled.
“I’m asking you to keep choosing tomorrow.”
The phrase hit me.
Tomorrow.
The same thing he had promised months earlier.
Not forever.
Not perfection.
Tomorrow.
I reached across the table.
“I can do tomorrow.”
When we returned home, the twins were waiting with Simone.
Emma ran to the door.
“Did Dad ask you to marry him?”
Luca almost dropped his keys.
“Who told you that?”
Emma pointed at Eli.
Eli looked offended.
“I said maybe.”
I laughed so hard I had to lean against the wall.
And in that messy hallway, surrounded by children, shoes, backpacks, and too many questions, I realized something.
The life I once wanted with Luca had disappeared.
May you like
But maybe the life replacing it was not a lesser version.
Maybe it was simply honest.
