The Breaking Point

Louis stood in front of the thick glass window, his heart pounding in his chest as he waited. The moment had haunted him since he had learned that Daniella turned herself in to authorities, and yet, he could not stay away. Not after all that happened. The door on the other side of the glass opened and Daniella entered, her movements slow and deliber­ate, her wrists shackled in front of her. She looked nothing like the sister Louis remembered. The confident, sharp-witted woman who'd once ruled every room she'd ever walked into had been replaced by someone hollow, broken. Her hair was disheveled, her skin pale, and the orange of the prison jumpsuit made the starkness of it all so real. She slowly walked to the chair opposite Louis and didn't even glance up into his gaze but kept hers on the floor. Louis felt a wave of conflicting emotions wash over him as he stared at her. It was his sister-the woman he grew up with, the person he had protected for so long. But she was also the person who had destroyed his life, who had nearly killed Victoria and had shattered their family beyond repair. When Daniella finally sat down and looked up at him, her eyes were welling up with tears. "Louis...," she whispered in a barely audible tone. For a long moment, Louis said nothing. He stared at her, his jaw clenched and hands balled into fists at his sides. The pent-up anger finally boiled over inside, and he spoke with a cold, furiously angry tone he had never felt before. "Why?" he bit out. "Why, Daniella?" Daniella's lip trembled, her eyes again falling to the floor. "I'm so sorry Louis. I never meant for this to happen-" "Never meant for this to happen?" Louis spat, forward, his voice escalating. "You shot her Daniella. You brought a gun to her apartment. How the hell did you not mean for this to happen?" At his words, Daniella winced as tears now fell in copious amounts. "I wasn't thinking. I was so angry; I couldn't. I couldn't see straight. I felt like I lost everything - Malcolm, you, the family. And I blamed her for it. I hated her for it." "You hated her?" Louis spat the words out with abhorrence. "Victoria never did anything to you. She was my wife, Daniella. She loved me. And you hated her for that? Daniella's breath caught in a struggle to find the words. "I didn't hate her because she loved you. I hated her because I felt like she was taking you away from me. After Malcolm died, everything fell apart, and I didn't know how to deal with it. I thought if I could just make her go away... Louis's fist landed on the table as his anger welled up inside him. "You thought killing her would fix everything? You nearly destroyed her life, mine, and the life of this family. How could you be so selfish? Daniella wept, her shoulders shaking while she finally looked him in the eye. "I know I have ruined everything. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but Louis, I'm so, so sorry. I wish I could take it all back. I hate myself for what I did." At her words, Louis' heart seemed to clench; yet, the anger still smoldered in his belly, fed by the picture in his mind's eye of Victoria lying in that hospital bed, fighting for her life because of what Daniella had done. He couldn't feel a speck of sorry for her. Not now. Not after everything she had taken from him. "You should hate yourself," Louis spat, his words cold and slashing. "You've disgraced this family, Daniella. You've destroyed everything our parents built, everything we had. Do you know what it's been like, watching Victoria fight for her life, knowing my sister did this to her?" The words came in a new storm of weeping. Daniella's hands were shaking on her lap, her head shaking from side to side. "I never wanted to hurt you, Louis. I thought. I thought I was protecting you, protecting the family, but I see now that I was wrong." "Wrong?" Louis's voice dripped with incredulity. "You think this has to do with being wrong? Do you think saying you're sorry will cover it? You nearly killed the woman that I love, Daniella. You destroyed any form of redemption for this family. Do you understand that? She leaned her head, and her tears dripped on the cold metal table. "I don't expect you to forgive me Louis. I don't expect that from anyone. I just. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I'll spend my whole life trying to make it up, trying to fix what I did, but I'll know that's never enough. Louis's hands shook; he fought not to break his voice. "You'll rot in here for what you did. That's the least you deserve." Daniella sobbed softly, then looked up at him, her eyes red-rimmed, her face haggard with grief. "I know." After that, there was silence, a palpable density pressing down on them, a weight of all their joint history. He wanted to feel something other than rage-pity, perhaps, or even sadness for the sister he had once loved. But all he felt was disgust-disgust at what she had done and how far she had fallen, and at the irreparable damage she had caused to him, to Victoria, and their family. "You're a disgrace," Louis said coldly and finally. "To this family, to yourself. I don't ever want to see you again." Daniella's breath caught in her throat as she nodded, her tears falling silently. "I understand." Louis abruptly rose, pushing the chair back with such force that it scratched the floor. He turned away from her, unable to look upon her any longer. As he approached the exit, it had cleaved his heart in aching pieces. He didn't look back. Daniella was no longer his sister. She was the woman who had almost destroyed him. And now, she would pay the price for what she had done.