Danielle drew a deep breath.
“There’s really no point in rehashing everything that’s happened,” she said, looking at Gian. “Even if there were misunderstandings between me and him, even if there were problems that never got resolved because we didn’t communicate—at this point, there’s nothing left to clear up.”
Gian frowned. “But if you don’t resolve these issues, they’ll always be a knot in your heart. Don’t you ever think about them?”
He pressed on, “I know what you’re thinking. In your mind, you and he have been divorced for so long, things should be cut and dried by now. All those old problems—best just leave them buried, right? No need to dig them back up.”
“But an unresolved problem is still a problem. Maybe you two will never have anything to do with each other again, but even if you draw a firm line, the issues between you will just sit there, piling up over time, turning from small things into something much bigger.”
“Facing these things would be better for both of you. I know you don’t want to make peace with him—some wounds don’t ever truly heal.”
Gian looked at Danielle, brow creased. “But have you considered your daughter? Doesn’t she still long for her father’s love? Are you really prepared for her to go through life never speaking to her own dad?”
“I can see Alexander loves her, in his own way. Maybe he has his reasons for everything he’s done. Don’t you want to understand what those are?”
“Some things don’t just go away if you ignore them. Sooner or later, everything you’re avoiding will come to a head. When that day comes, will you really be able to face it so calmly?”
Gian’s words weren’t without reason.
There were, in fact, many unresolved issues between Danielle and Alexander.
Danielle took another slow breath.
She looked up at Gian. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk to him. I’ve tried, over and over. He’s the one who won’t tell me anything.”
She turned away, rubbing her forehead. “I get the sense Alexander knows exactly what’s going on, knows all the issues between us. He just doesn’t want to fix them. He wants to let it all drag on.”
“He’s too clever not to understand what’s wrong between us. I’ve reached out, tried to talk, but he won’t open up. That says it all—he simply doesn’t want me to know.”
Those remarks seemed nonsensical at first glance, but Danielle knew there was meaning behind them.
She never thought Alexander was a fool.
And then there was her conversation with Millie earlier.
From Millie’s perspective, Alexander was just using her—as a shield, a distraction, the woman who bore the brunt of things in Danielle’s place.
Everything, in public and behind closed doors, would point back to Millie. Not to Danielle or her daughter.
Danielle found Alexander arrogant and secretive, unwilling to tell her anything.
And if this was really the outcome he wanted, then Danielle saw no reason to keep digging for answers.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Wife You Buried Is Back from Hell