Page 96 of Twisted Princess

“You must be dying to get out of that thing,” she says, eyeing it up and down.

“Seriously,” I agree, hefting the ribbed corset with my palms as I realize I haven’t had a chance to fill my lungs completely since I put it on.

“It’s pretty,” she observes as we reach the next doorway.

She opens the door to let me into the old guest bedroom I once temporarily called home. The beautiful dark wood furnishings and sage-green bedspread welcome me with happy memories—such a contrast to the emotions my opulent wedding dress evokes.

I laugh quietly. “It is, isn’t it? But I’m still seriously contemplating burning the damn thing. No bride will want to get married in this dress with the bad juju clinging to it.”

It’s a joke, of course, but Silvia only gives me a sad smile. “You want help getting out of it?” she offers.

My shoulders sag with gratitude. “That would be amazing, actually. I think I’m strapped in with those fancy buttons. It took the stylist nearly ten minutes just to get me into it.”

Silvia nods in confirmation as I turn my back to her.

Closing the space between us, she steps carefully around the long train and gets to work. “So…” she says lightly, keeping her eyes focused intently on her task. “What happened between you and Gleb—if you don’t mind me asking?”

Pain sinks through my skin, leaving my body with a dull, throbbing ache. And tears sting the backs of my eyes when I contemplate our falling out that might be permanent this time.

“We… had a fight,” I admit, and without Silvia knowing the context, I feel like she must think I’m a terrible person. After all, Gleb did just drive hours and risk his life to come save me for the hundredth time.

But Silvia says nothing, and she keeps her eyes on her task, as if she’s letting me pick whatever details I’m comfortable sharing.

“Gabby’s his daughter,” I murmur, my heart fluttering nervously as I voice the truth. “I found out I was pregnant shortly after leaving New York the first time.” Aside from Gleb, I’ve never told anyone. And to tell two people on the same day? It feels like a deep, dark secret Silvia will be horrified to know.

But she doesn’t even seem particularly surprised, and I wonder if she might not have already suspected it. Over my shoulder, I catch her shapely lips twitching into the subtlest of smiles.

“I told him in that note I left him. Because I wasn’t sure I’d get the chance to tell him in person…” I whisper. A tear escapes my eye as guilt consumes me for not telling him sooner. Maybe things could have worked out differently if I’d only found the courage to say it from the start. “But now he doesn’t believe me. He doesn’t…” I swallow, trying to hold together the frail pieces of my heart. “He doesn’t believe that he’s the only one I’ve ever…”

A sob rips up through my chest, and I press my lips together, trying to hold it in. But I can’t. It comes out as a choked gasp, and suddenly, I’m crying uncontrollably.

Why does it hurt so bad to admit?

“I c-can’t k-keep defending myself,” I force out past the tears.

“Oh, Mel,” Silvia breathes, pausing her task to step around my dress and pull me into a hug.

“I wrote th-that note, knowing I might not survive and th-that I wouldn’t be allowed to keep Gabby even if I did. So I had to tell Gleb. I wanted him to know the truth—I n-needed him to know. And I th-thought—I hoped—that the letter might convince him to stay in New York. I couldn’t let him die, and I knew, if I couldn’t raise Gabby, I w-wanted him to…”

The racking sobs that overcome me cut my explanation short. My shoulders jerk as my emotions pour from me with incredible force. I haven’t cried like this since I was a little girl. Not since my mom died. But suddenly, I can’t hold back the waterworks.

And yet, Silvia doesn’t seem to mind. She only holds me tighter, keeping all my pieces together because I can’t any longer. Why does it feel like my world is falling apart? I’m free. I’m safely back in New York. I’m with my daughter—and a family who will protect and support me in whatever way I need.

In so many ways, I’m incredibly blessed.

But when I think about Gleb, it feels as though I have a massive hole in my chest. He’s done so much for me. Like a silent protector, he’s always been there, watching over me, shielding me, rescuing me from the darkness that’s so determined to swallow me whole.

And at the same time, I can’t figure out what he wants. What he really wants.

Sometimes, it feels like it’s me.

But then he tells me he can’t see us moving forward together. Because I lied. Because I kept secrets. And now he can’t trust anything I say.

It hurts so badly to feel him slipping through my fingers. Knowing I’m the one to blame. I just have too much baggage, too many scars. And I can’t be with someone who doesn’t accept me for all of who I am—beauty and flaws alike.

So, as desperately in love as I am, I need to let Gleb go.

But god, to do that feels like I’m trying to cut out a part of my very soul.

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