To Adrien, I was a possession, an asset, something to keep small and skim off of. And to you, up a ladder in the corner, saying nothing for 3 years. To you, I was the only thing I've ever actually wanted to be to anyone. Her eyes were bright. A person.
Just a person. The lonely person at the top. You saw her before you knew a single thing about the empire. And you kept her secrets for three years, and you never once tried to turn seeing her into getting something. Do you understand that you're the only human being on this earth who's ever done that?
Nathan didn't say anything. His throat was too tight. I did the work, Victoria said. That's what I came down here to tell you, not to I'm not here to collect either. Don't worry.
I heard you that day in your kitchen. Save yourself first. And I did. I really did. Nathan, I got a therapist.
I've been going twice a week and it's awful. It's the hardest thing I've ever done. Harder than any deal. And I've cried more in 8 weeks than in the 20 years before it. I found out things about myself, about my father, about the fortress, about why I let a man like Adrien in and handed him the keys.
She took a breath. I rebuilt the company from the inside or started to. I'm learning people's names. I'm learning how to be a person people don't just fear. Marcus says I'm someone he recognizes again.
I sold the apartment I was afraid of. I bought a place I can actually live in. She looked at him steadily. I built myself a life, Nathan. A real one on my own.
Standing on my own two feet exactly like you said in a fortress that's finally mine and has no one in it making me small. Good, Nathan said, and his voice cracked on the one word. That's Victoria. That's everything. That's exactly it.
That's what I wanted for you. I know it is. She took a step closer. And here's the thing I figured out in all that therapy. The thing that took me 8 weeks and a lot of Kleenex to be sure of.