Chapter 14 - The Grandfather Clock Stayed At The Estate
The wedding estate belonged to Robert.
So did the grandfather clock.
For a while, I hated knowing it was still there.
I imagined it standing in the foyer as if nothing happened.
Then one day my therapist asked:
“Why does the object need to suffer consequences?”
I laughed despite myself.
“It hit me.”
“You hit it.”
“Technically Robert helped.”
She smiled.
The point was not to turn the clock into a monster.
It had been furniture.
Beautiful furniture.
An antique older than Robert.
The trauma belonged to the event, not the wood.
That distinction helped me reclaim other things too.
White dresses.
Marble foyers.
Virginia estates.
Wedding music.
Marriage itself.
I did not want Robert to own every symbol that had been present when he hurt me.
Two years later, I visited a historic house for graduate research.
There was a grandfather clock in the entrance hall.
I heard it chime.
My body tightened.
Then relaxed.
May you like
I stayed.
That tiny moment felt more important than the final divorce decree.
