Chapter 7: let her go

Caroline’s Point of View

I pull my suitcase out of the bedroom, my heart racing as I head toward the stairs. My hands tremble, my breath shallow. I’ve packed up what little I care to take with me — clothes, a few personal things, nothing more. The rest of it? Meaningless.

As I step down into the hallway, footsteps echo behind me, cold and deliberate. Karen Wayne, Knoxx’s mother, appears at the base of the stairs, her face as stern and sharp as always. She has this uncanny ability to make me feel small, no matter the situation. Today, though, I refuse to be small.

She strides up to me, her eyes immediately locking on the suitcase in my hand. I don’t know why it surprises me that she’d intercept me on my way out — of course, she would. Nothing happens in this house without her approval. After all, we are living with her.

Without a word, she snatches my suitcase from me, her fingers curling around the handle with unnecessary force.

“I need to check if you’ve taken anything that doesn’t belong to you,” she says sharply, as though she expects me to stuff jewels into my pockets on the way out.

I blink in disbelief.

“There’s nothing in this house I would find worthy enough to steal,” I say, my voice low but firm. The words feel like a release, and for the first time, I don’t care how she reacts.

I had never spoken to her like this before. For so long, I tried to win her approval, bending over backward to please her because I truly loved Knoxx. I wanted her to see me as worthy, to recognize my devotion to her son and to our marriage.

I put up with her dismissive comments, her cold stares, hoping that one day she would accept me. But now, it felt like I was reaching a breaking point. The years of effort, the sacrifices I made, all seemed meaningless in the face of her contempt. I couldn't endure it any longer. I was done trying to be someone I wasn’t just to fit into a mold she had created for me.

Knoxx stands a few feet away, watching us. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t defend me. He’s never really defended me, has he? All these years, he’s let his mother treat me like a stranger, like someone who’s beneath their world.

“Mom, let her go,” Knoxx finally says, his voice devoid of any real conviction. It’s as if he’s just saying it to get this over with, not because he actually cares.

His mother’s lips press into a thin line. She ignores him and looks me up and down, her disdain palpable. “You only married him for his money,” she says, her tone venomous. “Now that you’re leaving, of course, you’re trying to take everything valuable with you.”

I laugh — a harsh, humorless sound — and shake my head. “Valuable?” I ask, my voice bitter. “He’s never given me anything valuable. He even auctioned off that ruby necklace I thought was for me and gave it to Dolly. What could I possibly take from this house that would mean anything to me?”

The moment I say it, I see Knoxx’s face change. His eyes lower, his jaw clenches, and he looks away. He knows I’m right. I’ve never been after his money, no matter what they’ve all told themselves.

For a long time, I’ve let them believe whatever they wanted. I let them paint me as the gold-digger, the one who came into his life for all the wrong reasons. But in the end, it was Knoxx who never saw me for who I truly was. He never gave me more than the bare minimum, a check here, a half-hearted apology there. He didn’t know me — he never even tried to know me.

“You don’t have to pretend anymore, Caroline,” his mother says, her voice dripping with superiority. “We all know the truth. You were never going to last. You just wanted the money.”

I can’t help but sneer, the anger bubbling up inside me like a storm ready to break. “You’re wrong,” I say, staring her straight in the eye. “I didn’t marry him for his money. I married him because I loved him. I loved the man I thought he was. But clearly, I was wrong.”

Knoxx’s head jerks up at my words, but he says nothing. I can see the guilt etched across his face, but it’s too late for that now.

“Mom, that’s enough,” Knoxx mutters, rubbing his temple as if all of this is just some annoyance to him. “Just let her go.”

But Karen isn’t finished. “Of course she’s going to leave,” she snaps, her voice filled with disdain. “Once the money dries up, so does her interest. You really think she ever cared about you, son?”

I can’t hold back any longer. “What do you know about love?” I snap, my voice rising. “All you ever cared about was your son’s wealth, his status. You never gave a damn about our marriage. You’ve treated me like an outsider from the start.”

Karen’s eyes flash, and she steps closer, her presence overwhelming. “You were never good enough for him, Caroline. You were never one of us.”

“Good enough?” I scoff, my anger boiling over. “I’m not the one who betrayed this marriage. Knoxx did that all on his own. I’ve spent years trying to prove myself to you, to him. And for what? For you to stand here and accuse me of being a gold-digger?”

“You are a gold-digger,” Karen hisses. “You’ve always been after the Wayne name, the Wayne fortune. And now that you’re leaving, you’re just trying to take your cut.”

I step forward, my voice trembling with emotion. “The only thing I’m taking with me is my dignity. Something I should have taken a long time ago.”

Before I can say anything more, a voice interrupts the tension, cutting through the room like a blade.

“Let her go.”

I turn to see Adrian standing in the doorway. His presence commands attention, as it always does, but today there’s a seriousness in his eyes that I’ve never seen before.