“I don't know what you want from me,” Emma said.
“I don't want to demand anything.”
“Then why did you leave your photograph?”
“Because I hoped that someday you might want answers. And because I wanted Sophie to know that she had never been completely forgotten.”
Emma swallowed.
“Thinking about someone isn't the same as being there for them.”
“No,” Helena whispered. “It isn't.”
The honesty surprised Emma.
She had expected defensiveness.
Instead, Helena seemed willing to acknowledge that regret did not erase responsibility.
They talked for several more minutes.
Emma made it clear that she was not promising any relationship.
Helena accepted that.
Eventually, they agreed to meet at a café.
Emma ended the call feeling exhausted.
But she also felt something she had not expected.
The conversation had not solved the past.
It had simply allowed her to confront part of it without losing control of her own choices.
