Page 206 of Broken Destiny

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I judged you because of him without ever taking the time to truly know you. I looked at your past, your background, your circumstances… and convinced myself I already understood the kind of person you were.”

A dull ache spread slowly through my chest.

“I didn’t even know him,” I said quietly.

Eleanor closed her eyes briefly as tears slipped down her face.

“I know,” she whispered brokenly. “And I will regret that for the rest of my life.”

She pressed a trembling hand against her chest.

“That accident happened years ago, when Caleb’s father and I were still running the company ourselves. None of the children were involved then.” Her voice shook. “The decision was mine, and I made the wrong one.”

Her words left a heavy silence behind.

“Some part of me knew I was crossing lines I should never have crossed,” she whispered. “But every time I tried to stop, fear took over again.”

Tears slid down her face.

“I don’t expect forgiveness for any of it. What I did was despicable and shameful, but I am sorry, truly sorry for everything I did to you… to Caleb… to your child.”

I watched her for a long moment, searching for anger inside myself.

Once, I had wanted revenge.

I had wanted justice.

I had wanted her to feel even a fraction of the pain she had caused.

But now, looking at the woman in front of me—stripped of pride, consumed by regret—I felt something entirely different rising quietly inside me.

Not hatred.

Not satisfaction.

Compassion.

I thought about my own mother—the woman who had left me years ago—and how forgiveness had freed me from the weight of resentment. Holding on to anger had never healed anything. It had only kept the wounds open.

Slowly, I pushed my chair back and stood.

Eleanor looked at me, blinking rapidly with tight shoulders.

I walked to her and gently placed my hands on her arms. Beneath the fabric of her clothes, I could feel how thin she had become. Her bones pressed sharply against my palms.

“What you did changed the course of my life,” I said quietly. “There were years of pain that can never be returned to us.”

Eleanor broke down harder.

“But carrying that pain forever would only continue the damage. Punishing you will not solve anything,” I said quietly. “Holding resentment toward you would only bind us together by an emotional chain of hatred.”

My voice softened.

“That is not something I want for myself or for my children.”

Tears streamed silently down her face.