MY EX-HUSBAND'S BROTHER

Lunch with Grace

Evelyn's POV

I could not eat. The salad in front of me might as well have been cardboard.

Grace sat across from me at the restaurant, looking almost as nervous as I felt. "Thank you for agreeing to have lunch with me."

"Of course."

"I know things have been... difficult between us. And I want to change that."

I set down my fork. "Grace, you do not have to do this. You do not owe me anything."

"Yes, I do. I owe you years of kindness that I never gave. Years of support that I withheld because I was too proud and too foolish to see what was really happening."

"You thought you were protecting Richard."

"I was protecting the idea of who I wanted Richard to be. But that person never existed." Grace reached across the table and took my hand. "I am sorry, Evelyn. Truly, deeply sorry."

Tears burned my eyes. "I forgive you."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. Life is too short to hold grudges."

Grace's own eyes filled with tears. "You are a better person than I deserve."

"I am just trying to move forward. And that means letting go of the past."

We sat in silence for a moment, both of us trying not to cry in the middle of a crowded restaurant.

Finally, Grace said, "Tell me about the community center. Benjamin says you are designing it yourself."

I smiled, grateful for the change of subject. "I am. It is terrifying and exciting at the same time."

"Your father must be so proud."

"He is. He gave me the warehouse as an anniversary gift."

Grace shook her head. "Vincent is a good man. Too good for what Richard did to him."

"He is healing. Both physically and emotionally."

"And you? Are you healing?"

I thought about Benjamin, about the kiss we shared yesterday, about the way my heart felt lighter every time I saw him.

"Yes. I think I am."

Grace smiled knowingly. "It is Benjamin, is it not?"

My face got hot. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, please. I see the way you look at each other. The way he looks at you like you hung the moon. The way you light up when he walks into a room."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Only to someone paying attention." Grace squeezed my hand. "And for what it is worth, I approve. Benjamin is ten times the man Richard ever was."

"I am still married to Richard. Technically."

"Technicalities do not matter. Your marriage ended the moment Richard chose to betray you. Everything else is just paperwork."

"Mirabel says the divorce could take months."

"Then take those months to get to know Benjamin properly. To heal, to grow, to become yourself again."

"What if I do not know who myself is anymore?"

Grace leaned back in her chair. "Let me tell you a story. When I married Richard's father, I was twenty years old. I gave up a scholarship to study art in Paris because my parents said a woman's place was with her husband."

"I did not know you were an artist."

"I was going to be. But I let someone else's dreams become more important than my own. I spent forty years being Mrs. Harrison, the perfect wife, the perfect mother. And when my husband died, I realized I did not know who Grace was underneath all those roles."

"What did you do?"

"I started painting again. Not well, not professionally. But for myself. And slowly, I remembered who I was before I became someone's wife."

I understood what she was trying to tell me. "You think I should focus on my architecture."

"I think you should focus on being Evelyn. And if architecture is part of that, wonderful. If Benjamin is part of that, even better. But do not lose yourself again. Not for anyone."

"I do not plan to."

"Good. Because you are too special to waste on being someone else's shadow."

My phone buzzed. Benjamin: "The detective moved our meeting to four this afternoon. Do you still want to go see Richard before that?"

I had almost forgotten about Richard's request to see me. Almost.

"Is everything okay?" Grace asked.

"Richard wants to see me. Says he will confess if I visit him."

Grace's expression darkened. "Do not go alone."

"Benjamin is coming with me."

"Good. Richard is dangerous, Evelyn. Even from jail, he is dangerous."

"I know. But I need to face him. Need to show him he did not break me."

"Just be careful. Cornered animals are the most vicious."

We finished lunch and Grace walked me to my car. Before I got in, she hugged me tight.

"You are the daughter I wish I had," she whispered.

"You have Sylvia."

"Sylvia is angry and bitter and too much like her father. You are kind and strong and everything good in this world."

I hugged her back, feeling something shift in my chest. For four years, I wanted Grace's approval. Now that I had it, I realized I did not need it.

But it was nice to have anyway.

Benjamin picked me up at two thirty. We drove to the jail in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

At the entrance, a guard checked our IDs. "Mr. Harrison is in the visiting room. You will have fifteen minutes."

We walked down a long hallway, through multiple locked doors, until we reached a room divided by glass partitions.

Richard sat on the other side, wearing an orange jumpsuit, his hair messy, his eyes dark and angry.

When he saw me, his whole face changed. The anger melted away, replaced by something that looked almost like hope.

I sat down and picked up the phone. Benjamin stood behind me, close enough to touch.

Richard picked up his phone. "You came."

"You said you would confess if I did."

"I will. I will confess to everything. But first, I need you to understand something."

"Understand what?"

"That I love you. I have always loved you. Everything I did, I did because I loved you too much."

I stared at him, wondering if he actually believed the words coming out of his mouth.

"You tried to kill my father," I said flatly.

"I did not... that was not... I was just trying to make him sick enough that he would retire. I did not want him to die."

"You gave him the wrong medication six times, Richard. Medication that interacted with his heart condition. What did you think would happen?"

"I thought he would get sick and step down from the company. I thought you would inherit and we could finally live the life we deserved."

"The life you deserved, you mean. The life where you controlled my father's money and I played the obedient wife."

Richard's mask slipped for just a second. I saw the real him underneath. Cold, calculating, furious.

"You were supposed to love me," he said.

"I did love you. I loved the man you pretended to be."

"I was not pretending. That man was real."

"No, he was not. That man would not have cheated on me. Would not have hidden children from me.

Would not have stolen from my father."

"I did what I had to do to survive."

"You did what you wanted to do because you are selfish and cruel and you do not know how to love anyone but yourself."

Richard slammed his hand against the glass. "You do not get to judge me. You, who gave up everything to be with me. You, who had no identity outside of being my wife."

"You are right. I did give up everything. But I am taking it back now. My career, my identity, my life. All of it."

"With him?" Richard's eyes moved to Benjamin. "With my brother?"

"That is none of your business."

"He is using you. Just like I did. He sees you as a way to hurt me, to get revenge for all the years I was Father's favorite."

Benjamin leaned down and spoke into the phone. "Unlike you, I actually care about Evelyn. I see her as a person, not a tool."

Richard laughed, bitter and harsh. "You think you are better than me, Benjamin. You always did. But you are not. You are the same. We are all the same."

"No," Benjamin said quietly. "We are nothing alike. And every day, I thank God for that."

I stood up, ready to leave. "Confess or do not confess, Richard. I do not care anymore. You cannot hurt me. You have no power over me."

"Evelyn, wait. Please." Richard pressed his hand against the glass. "I am sorry. For everything. I know I messed up. I know I hurt you. But please, do not leave me like this."

"You left me first. The moment you chose Tonia over our marriage."

"I will make it right. I will do anything. Just give me another chance."

I looked at this man I once loved, this man who destroyed so much, and felt nothing.

No anger. No sadness. No love.

Just emptiness where he used to be.

"Goodbye, Richard."

I hung up the phone and walked out of the visiting room.

Behind me, I could hear Richard shouting, pounding on the glass, begging me to come back.

But I did not look back. I just kept walking, one foot in front of the other, until I was outside in the fresh air, breathing free.

Benjamin wrapped his arms around me. "You were incredible in there."

"I was just honest."

"That is what made it incredible."

My phone buzzed. Detective Morrison: "Richard just confessed to everything. Embezzlement, fraud, attempted murder. His lawyer is furious but the confession is on record. We got him."

I showed Benjamin the message. He smiled and kissed my forehead.

"It is over," he said.

"No," I corrected. "It is just beginning."