Victor regretted raising his voice, both because he didn't tend to display his emotions this vehemently and because it seemed to have had no effect at all. Oh, she had paused, true enough, but when she spoke it was to immediately argue that his death really had been all about her. She hadn't heard him at all, or was willfully failing to consider his meaning. It was rather a staggering feat of egocentrism for her to stand there, talking to someone who had died, and tell them that she was the real victim in this situation. Obviously Victor didn't think this turn of events had been a walk in the park for her, but to say that she had lost everything and he had not?

Was she the one who could not longer read books unless someone curated the experience by standing there turning pages? Was she the one with a wand that no longer responded to her touch? Was she the one who hadn't made physical contact with anyone for nine months? No, but apparently she had lost everything, and he had not.

"I told you something I'd never told anyone," he said, tone one of disbelief. "And you only heard that I didn't love you enough. I'm not sure what you think love is, Belle, but I don't think you ever loved me, either. Because I did lose everything. And I don't think you've seen me since I died."

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Fabulous set by Lady!

Victor's accusation cut deep, leaving Christabel stung and defensive. His disbelief at her interpretation of his confession only fueled her frustration, and the weight of his words hung heavily in the air. She listened, her anger, sadness, and bitterness evident in her response.

"What more was I lacking, Victor?" she shot back, her voice a mix of anger and hurt. "What extra sensory ability was I meant to deploy to know what you wanted? You've barely spoken to me in the past year, avoided me at every turn. I've spent days in your home, with your family, who made it clear I was not wanted there because I was trying to be a good wife, to remain loyal to you. You've never told me what you wanted, so I did the best that I could. I'm sorry that that was so deficient."

The pain in her voice was palpable, and she continued, her tone challenging. "If you had cared for me at all, even if only as your friend, we might have tried to get through this together. But you've made it clear that you have no interest in that. What am I supposed to do with that? I took a drug that could have killed me to try and connect with you, and your response was to tell me you didn't want me there, and now you blame me for taking you at your word and leaving your home?"

Her voice wavered, but she quickly regained her composure. "What should I have done to retain your favor? What expectation did you set but never tell me? What more did I need to do to prove that I loved you?" The questions hung in the air, a challenging confrontation of unspoken expectations and unaddressed emotions.

  

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I am my mother's savage daughter, The one who runs barefoot cursing sharp stones

I am my mother's savage daughter, I will not cut my hair, I will not lower my voice
MJ made glory

She launched in again with more things that were factually, verifiably false, but this time Victor didn't interrupt her. He didn't see the point, and he didn't have the energy. He'd yelled once and it had changed exactly nothing — this was more of the same, about how she was the true victim of the situation despite the fact that he had died. It was clear that nothing he was going to say would change her perception of the issue. It was strange to think that he had married her without discovering this character flaw beforehand, and it was only just coming out now — strange to think that it wouldn't have been immediately obvious after meeting her for the first time, because the egocentrism was certainly the only thing he could see in her now.

What was the point of continuing the conversation? She was only asking him rhetorical questions. She didn't want to know what more could I have done, not really. If he said well, you could have tried walking across the hall that was only going to lead with more accusations that he had been 'avoiding her at every turn' — it simply wasn't true, and if she had already decided that was her version of reality he wasn't going to dissuade her of it. She wanted credit for the desperate ploy last night; she wanted him to fall down at her feet and thank her for being reckless and probably apologize for having driven her to such means in the first place. She wanted him to say ah, I see now, it really has been terribly unfair to you that I've died, how could I have been so selfish as to think I was the party most impacted by my own death — and he simply did not have the energy.

"Ah, of course. I should have been overjoyed to think you dead. How silly of me," he said, obviously sarcastic. "I don't know what you want, Belle, but you're obviously not going to find it with me. I hope you're happy here," he concluded, and drifted towards the door.

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Fabulous set by Lady!

Christabel gave a bitter laugh 'That about sums up the last year', as he floated towards the door. She couldn't believe she had been deluded enough to waste a year trying, when it was clear to her now that he had little respect for her and even less affection. His utter selfishness, his disdain for her was now so very obvious to her, and that hurt more than she would like to admit. She didn't matter, not to his family and certainly not to him. It might have been kinder if he had told her that 10 months ago, better yet 14 months ago.

'I wanted you Victor, I made that very clear, but you never wanted the same' She answered him flatly, but didn't move from her chair, he could ask that ridiculous question but she had always been clear about her answer. He knew why she had stayed. He might act stupid now, but he couldn't deny the fact that she had stayed, mourned and behaved as his wife when many women wouldn't have and he had known she loved him. And now he was choosing to paint her as the villain because she had left when he told her to go? Yet another character flaw he was contriving to justify the fact that he had all but ignored her for a year. It was so ridiculous as to be almost funny.

She had wanted something like an answer from him, it was he had come to her home - for little other than intellectual curiosity it seemed, it certainly hadn't been out of concern for her. Perhaps it was to assuage the wound to his ego, to come here, accuse her of being a terrible wife and then leave just so he could be the one to say he had walked away from her.

She shouldn't have been surprised really, after almost a year of silence, of not addressing the elephant in the room, he was choosing to say walk away, to do what he had done every time they had even gotten close to addressing anything, to keep her holding on by her nails, fighting for his acknowledgment. She had been avoided by him for almost a year, and he was choosing to avoid the issue once again, just to say he was the one who walked away. She shouldn't be surprised, but she found that she was so disappointed in him.

'I tried to be your wife Victor, can you say the same?'

  

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I am my mother's savage daughter, The one who runs barefoot cursing sharp stones

I am my mother's savage daughter, I will not cut my hair, I will not lower my voice
MJ made glory

For his part, Ford was quite pleased that Mr. Daphnel reappeared well ahead of the Minister-elect's ten minute ultimatum. He had been rather concerned by the yelling — on both Daphnel's end and hers — and felt a little guilty for having overheard what he did. But at least things now seemed... probably not resolved, but at least tabled for the afternoon. Long enough for Ford to wash his hands of the matter. After combing through all their procedures and sending Mr. Dempsey the one he'd asked for, of course. And after explaining the whole mess to Mr. Morgan.

"Right, let's go," he said, and waited only long enough to ensure Mr. Daphnel was inclined to follow him before bounding down the stairs and back towards the floo.

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Set by Lady!