"Yeah." Her voice was steady, but her fingers tightened around the cup. "I'm done chasing stages. I spent four years proving I could be number one, and the moment I got close, everything that actually mattered slipped away." She lifted her gaze to meet his. "Mom died thinking I was still angry at her for not supporting me enough. I never got to tell her I wasn't. I never got to sit with her and just… be her daughter again."
Sowoo's expression softened. He reached across the table but stopped short of touching her hand. "Don't blame yourself like that. You know it's not your fault. You were merely chasing your dreams. It just happened all of a sudden."
Elena's throat closed. She swallowed hard. "Knowing doesn't fix the fact that I wasn't there."
Silence stretched again.
He studied her for a long moment. "You're really okay with that?"
"No," she admitted. "But I'm going to be. Eventually."
They talked then—about small, safe things.
