UNCENSORED UPDATE: WHEN MY HUSBAND MADE ME HIS VICTIM, I MADE HIM MY LEGACY

A year later, I received a letter.

It was from Nathan's lawyer.

Mrs. Ashford,

Your husband would like to meet with you. He believes he can explain everything. He is sorry for what he did, and he would like to apologize in person.

I almost threw the letter away.

But something made me stop.

Maybe it was the idea of closure. Maybe it was the need to look him in the eye and let him know that he hadn't broken me.

I agreed to the meeting.

The prison was cold and gray. Nathan sat behind a glass partition, wearing an orange jumpsuit, looking older and smaller than I remembered.

"Sarah," he said. "Thank you for coming."

I sat down across from him.

"What do you want?"

"I want to apologize."

"Okay."

"I know it doesn't make up for what I did. I know I can't undo any of it. But I need you to know... I was wrong. Everything I did was wrong."

"Okay."

"And I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. I was a monster."

I looked at him.

"Monsters don't say they're sorry."

"What?"

"Monsters don't apologize. They don't feel regret. They don't wish they'd done things differently. You're not a monster, Nathan. You're just weak. You wanted power. You wanted control. And you got it, for a while. But now it's gone."

He was crying now.

"I wish I could take it back. I wish I could go back and undo it."

"You can't."

"I know."

"But I can tell you this... you don't get to ask for my forgiveness. You don't get to ask for anything. You made your choices, and now you have to live with them."

"I know."

"But I also want to tell you something else."

"What?"

I leaned forward.

"I'm free," I said. "I'm happy. I'm building a life without you. And no matter what you do or say, you can never take that away from me."

Nathan stared at me.

"Take care of yourself," I said.