After the Thorns Chapter 09
Every sentence I spoke cut into her.
Vanessa’s face went white, and her lips trembled without forming a complete answer.
“I had no other choice at the time…”
How could I possibly believe that?
“So your only choice was to destroy my life and reward your affair?
“Vanessa, stop pretending to be helpless. It only makes you more repulsive to me.”
Her eyes reddened.
“So you’re doing all this to punish me?
“I could…”
She paused as though preparing to make an enormous sacrifice.
“I could end this pregnancy and come back to you.
“My only condition is that Mason stays out of prison.”
Her shameless proposal made me laugh.
Vanessa mistook my laughter for delight.
She lifted her chin, her confidence returning.
“You went through all this because you wanted me back, didn’t you?
“I’m agreeing now. Go get Mason released.”
I shook my head. “Do you honestly think I’d take back someone who betrayed me and is carrying his child?
“Or have you always believed I was still the same fool you could summon whenever you wanted?
“I spent three years carrying the consequences of your betrayal. I won’t volunteer for another lifetime of it.”
Vanessa’s face flushed crimson.
“What exactly are you saying, Julian?”
I spread my hands. “Exactly what it sounds like. My life isn’t a place where you can dump what Mason no longer
wants.
“And I have no desire to search through the wreckage for the woman I once loved.”
With that, I walked past her without another glance.
Behind me, she broke into furious curses.
“Julian, you deserved to be rejected by your own parents!
“Someone abandoned by everyone will end up alone and miserable!
“I hope you suffer for the rest of your life!”
My steps paused, then quickened.
Her curses meant nothing to me now.
As Mason himself liked to say, winners take everything and losers live with the result.
Now both he and Vanessa had lost completely.
This time, their pleading would not soften me.
To spare them would be to betray the man I had been when they made him suffer.
After leaving the hospital grounds, I took a cab to the house where I had been born and raised.
The property had been seized, and official notices covered the door.
Through the window, I could still see dusty furniture and the wall once covered with my awards.
I stood there for a long time before turning away.
I never wanted to return to that place.
I bought a train ticket to West Point.
While I waited in the station, an unfamiliar number called.
“Is this Mr. Julian Reckitt? I’m calling from Riverton General Hospital.
“Your mother was admitted two days ago after a severe heart attack. Her condition is critical, and she keeps asking for you.”
I held the phone in silence for a long time.
In my earliest memories, Mom had once been gentle.
Before Mason was born, she would hold me against her chest and sing me to sleep.
But that tenderness vanished the moment he entered our lives.
I had envied him, broken down, and begged for a share of her love.
My longing for that love had led me down the wrong road for years.
I was grown now. I would never again drain myself dry for affection that was offered only when convenient.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know that woman.”
Before the caller could respond, I ended the call and blocked the number.
The train began to move, and the city slowly disappeared outside the window.
I knew I was saying goodbye to my past.
From that moment forward, my life would belong to me.
My name is Julian Reckitt.
And in the years ahead, I will become an officer who serves with honor.
