The Dividing Line: ABSOLUTION #COMPLETED (Book 3)

42 ѱ NO TURNING BACK (BWWM)

THE CONVERSATION

"So, I guess you plan to keep ignoring me?"

"You know that's not the case. How can I say a word with all that's going on?"

"I'm the one who should be messed up by all of this. I should be screaming. Hell. I should be pulling out my hair or at least snatching that wig, those eyelashes, and everything I can get my hands on off of you. We made a deal and you lied. You betrayed me, and now, you sit here as if you're somehow worse off than I am."

"Gina, please..."

"No ma'am. That ship ain't gonna sail. You need to explain what the fuck that little bitch meant when she said you and Igor have been in a relationship all these years."

"That's been over for some time."

"Okay?"

"I ended it long before I got married."

"How long?"

"Well, you see. We stopped..."

"Elanie, so help me god, don't you dare try to pull that lawyer shit on me. Open your mouth and tell me the truth. How long were you dating Igor Berg? And when exactly did you stop seeing him?"

Elaine finally broke down and told her cousin everything. She even told Regina about the last few calls she'd received from Igor, leading her to distance herself from the man for good.

Once the confession was completed, only a long silence was entertained between the two. Tension in that space was at an all-time high and Elaine felt her guilt pressing down on her soul. Understanding how wrong she was for encouraging her cousin to stay away from the man she loved, Elaine had no right to intervene in what they shared between Jedidiah and Regina, regardless of the manner in which he conducted his life, had something beautiful and real.

Ultimately, Elaine did the same thing to Regina that she accused Igor of doing to her. She took her cousin's choice away. Regardless of her reason for denying Regina access to the father of her child, she had no right to do so.

"When all of this is over, please do me a huge favor. Do not, under any circumstances, contact me. My child is a fucking monster because he never had a chance to feel real love or become as successful as his little brothers. I know my parents were trying to help me, but what about my baby? If only I was given the chance, I could have made a difference in his life. Now, there is only hate and destruction because no one was there to show him a better path." The anguish in her words was powerful enough to bring tears to their eyes.

As the vehicle quietly hummed along, the bond between the two women, who were more like sisters than anything, quickly eroded as the severity of what went wrong began to fall like dominoes all around them.

Elaine feared if she spoke at that moment, it would only make things worse.

"My child was ripped away from me. If I had the slightest idea he was living like that and had I known his whereabouts, I would have taken him away from those people."

"Gina, please. It wasn't my intention to hide him from you."

"Regardless of what you thought you were doing, you kept my son away from me. If the tables were turned, I wouldn't have hesitated for a second to help you. We are financially secure businesswomen. You're a damn lawyer for crying out loud. We should've done something. Just face the truth, you were too busy fucking around with a married man instead of being concerned about protecting your family."

"Now, Gina. That's not fair and it's certainly not true."

"Don't get all indignant with me, Lanie. Honey, you don't have a leg to stand on in this conversation. You have connections, money, power, and most importantly, the law in your back pocket. You mean to tell me, the whole time you were screwing around with Igor Berg, it never once occurred to you to find out what was going on with your godson?"