Chapter 14 - Chapter 14 - TOO LATE FOR SORRY
|
Silence settled over the study like a heavy lead blanket.
The soft breathing of the sleeping infant on the sofa was the only sound left in the room.
Marcus stood alone behind his desk. He looked at his shaking hands. The same hands that had built an empire. The same hand that had struck the woman who saved his son's life.
Slowly, heavily, Marcus walked around the desk. He stopped a few feet away from Elena.
She looked up at him. Her face was pale, her eye already darkening with a deep purple bruise. She held the warm towel against her lip, her eyes cold and distant.
Marcus dropped to his knees right in front of her.
"Elena..." His voice broke completely. Tears welled in his eyes as he looked at her swollen cheek. "Dear God, Elena... what have I done?"
He reached out a hand to touch her face, his fingers trembling with agonizing guilt.
Elena flinched back instantly, pressing her back against the sofa cushions. "Don't touch me, Mr. Sterling."
Marcus pulled his hand back as if he had been burned. "I'm so sorry. I was blind with fear... I saw him wet, I saw her pointing... I lost my mind. I will give you anything. Money, a new house, whatever you want. Just please... forgive me."
Elena looked down at him kneeling on the floor. Her expression didn't soften.
"You didn't listen to me," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I nearly drowned down there, dragging your child out of the dark. And when I brought him to you, you struck me like trash."
"I know," Marcus sobbed, bowing his head. "I know."
May you like
"Keep your money, Mr. Sterling," Elena said, standing up on shaky legs. "I am going to check on the baby's health. And then I am leaving this house."
---
