108 The Pain of Truth

The evening air was filled with a palpable tension as Alex watched Emma emerge gracefully from the crowd, her poised demeanor a stark contrast to his internal turmoil. As she moved toward the waiting limousine, he found a burst of courage. "Emma, wait!" She hesitated, turning to face him, her expression revealing she anticipated this confrontation. "What is it, Alex? I have to hurry." Standing before her, Alex's rehearsed lines crumbled, replaced by a raw, unfiltered need for answers. "Why did you never reveal who you really were? Could knowing the truth have saved us?" Emma's laugh, laced with irony and disbelief, caught Alex off guard. "You're mistaken, Alex. I never hid who I was. I wanted our marriage to be genuine, unclouded by my family's status. It's you who failed to see me, to truly look at me." Alex struggled to comprehend her words, his mind racing to piece together the fragments of their past. How could he have been so blind to the woman he had vowed to cherish?