Lauren returned the next morning.
This time, she didn't insult our apartment.
She didn't even look at the sewing table.
She simply stood in the doorway.
“I want to talk.”
I stepped aside.
She entered.
Then she looked at Emma and Clara.
“I made mistakes.”
Neither girl answered.
“I was young,” Lauren continued. “I wanted a career. I was scared.”
Clara's voice trembled.
“You weren't scared.”
Lauren looked at her.
“You were ashamed of us.”
Lauren's eyes filled with tears.
“I was wrong.”
Emma asked:
“Why did you come back now?”
Lauren didn't answer immediately.
Then she finally admitted the truth.
“Because I saw what you created.”
Silence.
“I wanted to help you,” she whispered.
I shook my head.
“No. You wanted what they created.”
Lauren looked down.
She knew I was right.
Then she placed a document on the table.
“I'll give up my claim to the company.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
She wiped away a tear.
“Because I finally understand something.”
She turned toward her daughters.
“I missed eighteen years.”
Emma reached out and found her mother's hand.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Clara asked:
“Do you expect us to forgive you?”
Lauren shook her head.
“No.”
That answer surprised all of us.
“I don't deserve forgiveness,” she said. “I only hope that someday you might stop hating me.”
Emma remained silent.
Then she said:
“I don't hate you.”
Lauren looked up.
“I just don't need you anymore.”
Those words broke Lauren.
She began crying.
But then the lawyer entered the room.
“There's another issue,” he said.
I turned toward him.
“What now?”
He handed me a new document.
“The five-million-dollar offer has been withdrawn.”
Lauren looked confused.
“Why?”
The lawyer smiled.
“Because the company doesn't want to buy the brand anymore.”
I stared at him.
“Then what do they want?”
He looked at Emma and Clara.
“They want to sign them as the creative directors of an international fashion division.”
Then he added:
“And they've asked one more person to join the deal.”
I frowned.
“Who?”
He looked directly at me.
“You, Mark.”
