Melissa described rebuilding a delivery system after a winter storm disrupted several warehouses.
She spoke for twenty minutes without mentioning surrogacy, divorce, or the Whitmores.
When she left, she realized she still possessed skills that belonged only to her.
The company offered a second interview.
She told Grant because the new schedule could affect school pickups.
He congratulated her and offered to adjust the calendar if she received an offer.
Melissa looked surprised.
“You’re not going to tell me to avoid another powerful boss?”
Grant smiled sadly.
“I’m going to tell you to get the job description in writing.”
She laughed, and the sound was unfamiliar but welcome.
That evening, Joanne asked whether Melissa still regretted the surrogacy decision.
Melissa thought about the baby, Vivien’s gratitude, Charles’s pressure, and the children she had missed during recovery.
“I regret trusting the wrong process,” she said.
“I regret the way I treated Grant.”
She paused before finishing.
“I don’t want to turn the baby’s existence into a mistake.”
Joanne nodded and said that complicated truths did not need to cancel one another.
Melissa slept better that night than she had in months.
Chapter 37: The Question of Apology
Before the second mediation session, Melissa wrote down what she wanted beyond money.
She wanted correct medical billing, a reliable employment reference, and acknowledgment that she had not been given clear independent guidance.
She also wanted Charles to stop describing her as a generous woman whose cooperation required no questions.
Rachel reviewed the list and explained which requests could be addressed through an agreement.
An apology was harder because it could not be made sincere through a contractual clause.
Melissa said she understood but still wanted to ask for one.
At mediation, Charles repeated that he appreciated everything she had done for his family.
Melissa waited until he finished speaking.
“You thanked me in public,” she said.
“I needed you to answer me in private.”
Charles said he had never intended harm.
Melissa replied that intention did not explain the delayed reimbursement or the disputed paperwork.
His lawyer asked whether they could return to the financial terms.
Melissa agreed because she did not want the entire session to become an emotional debate.
Nevertheless, the question remained in the room.
During a break, Vivien approached Melissa with Rachel’s permission.
She said she had been thinking about the conversations she had avoided before the pregnancy.
“I let Charles tell me the arrangements were taken care of,” she admitted.
