My fingers tightened beneath the table.
He looked down.
"I know I behaved terribly."
I waited.
"I was under pressure. My mother's business was struggling. I thought if we combined our resources, everything would work out."
"Why didn't you ask me?"
He rubbed his forehead.
"Because I knew you'd say no."
There it was.
The truth, spoken almost casually.
I felt my chest tighten.
"You knew I'd say no," I repeated, "so you tried to take away my choice."
He looked at me.
"I never wanted to hurt you."
"You threw wine in my face."
His eyes filled.
"I lost control."
"And before that? The transfers? The paperwork?"
He said nothing.
I leaned forward.
"Javier, I spent three years wondering what I needed to change to make you treat me kindly. I thought if I earned more, cooked better, visited your mother more often, stopped disagreeing in public, you'd become the man I married."
