Having spent all Sunday being cared by Santana, Rachel found herself completely alone, on Monday, and her will of disappearing wouldn't go away, as well as the tears kept insisting on washing her face. However, she had an appointment that afternoon with some teenagers who needed her to train them for a competition, which, considering the circumstances of their lives, was something of inestimable importance. Moreover, considering the new circumstances of her own life, devoting herself to the glee club again could be the best part of her day, as it had been for a long time in the past.

Of course she now also had Broadway and she loved her moments singing, dancing and acting in front of a large audience, and was enthusiastic about the applause and accolades she received. However, the life of a musical actress was not only glamorous but also a lot of pressure, a lot of competition. At the backstage, Rachel had not found a friendly ambience, people passionate for what they did, as she expected. She found a battle of egos, a lot of gossip and intrigue, she had only managed to endure because, outside, she'd been surrounded by lots of love.

She'd been surrounded by the love of longtime friends like Santana and Puck, and new friends like Sam and Quinn, and the love of her parents, with whom she used to speak almost daily, at least by the phone. She had the love of her in-laws, her brother-in-law, her borrowed cousins, Blake and Ginni. And it was clear that all these people had made a difference, making her life better, more interesting and more cheerful.

But Finn's love was her base, her foundation, her mainspring. The love of her husband, that she had thought all the time was a fake husband, was in fact the stronger and most genuine thing in her life, the real magic that had led to the best place she had ever gotten in life. She had not been, however, able to recognize any of this, and, above all, she'd been foolish and had failed to realize that their feeling for each other was truly love.

Knowing this now, still crying, she got off the car in the school parking lot, and only stopped crying when she got the first hug from one of her pupils, that welcomed her back to the club. Rachel had a job to do and it was a task which, fortunately, would do very well to her heart. She managed to smile a little, seeing the individual presentations and of small groups that Finn had asked the students to prepare for that afternoon. But of course the peace in her heart didn't last, because the teens would start to remember of Mr. Hudson, about the essays he had coordinated, and would also flatter him non stop, and ask about when he would visit them.

The mentor gave the group a thousand excuses to justify her behavior, her sadness, the tears that she couldn't stop. She invented family problems that did not exist, and, about a possible visit of Finn, she said she would talk to him, but it would probably be difficult for him to go there because he was too busy with his own work. Her ride home, after the failed attempt to get distracted, was even worse than her drive to her old high school.

She hardly had arrived home and taken off her shoes when the maid gave her the information that Mr. Hudson had gone the apartment, right in the middle of the afternoon, and had taken two suitcases full of clothes with him. It was not hard to see how Mrs. Robbins had been surprised by the event and was worried about the missus. If her sympathetic look was not enough, the warm bath tub and the strong tea she prepared for Rachel would show it definetly.

The brunette tried to relax in the water and then in the soft bed of the suite. However, everything would make her remember Finn and his absence, which was increasingly showing to be definitive. She drank her tea spiced with lots and lots of tears, because she simply thought it was impossible to stop feeling sorry for herself and regretted the pain that she could be causing to the man she loved, which added to the pain itself a sense of shame, a certain revulsion against herself.

She only slept that night because, again, she drank tea baptized with soothing pills, that Mrs. Robbins led to her room, instructed by Santana, who had called the employee at the beginning of the night, in search of news, and learned that the picture was the same as the previous day. The next day, she woke up late and spent the day lying on the couch, because there was no activity to save her from her thoughts and memories. Having to avoid calls from people for whom she didn't want to say anything yet, like Lisa or Quinn, made it even more complicated, and when it seemed that things could not get worse, the doorbell rang and this assumption proved to be false.

"Ma'am, excuse me." The maid was made present in the TV room. "Mr. Sebastian is here and he said he needs to talk to you."

"Okay... ask him to come here." Rachel said, sitting on the couch. She knew she was horrible and shouldn't receive anyone like that, but she was more anxious to know what Seb wanted than to make a good impression on whoever it was.

"To ask if you are okay would be hypocritical, for sure." Her friend said, kissing her cheeks fondly. "I can see you're not. Which, incidentally, makes everything even more insane, I must say. I can't understand why you guys broke up, if you're here, destroyed without him... and he there, carrying life as a cross! " He said, with his characteristic mannerisms.

"Is he that bad?" She asked, knowing the answer would be affirmative, feeling, once again, her eyes wet.

"Worse!" Sebastian made no effort to ameliorate, but he sighed when he saw the effect of his words. "Come here, diva." He sat next to her and hugged her, letting her cry all she wanted.

"But you didn't come here to tell me you don't understand... and that I'm trashy and he is dragging his feet." She breathed, wiping her face and preparing to hear what he had to say.

"No." He picked up a folder that was left on the other sofa and opened it. "I came because you need to sign this." He delivered her a paper.

"What is it?"

"It's a document in which you release Finn from his performance of the contract by paying the stipulated fine. The bank check also is here with me and I will not even take it to your accountant, because... well, it's really yours and the rest wont be anymore. You'll lose the inheritance and that is exactly why the penalty exists... for you survive for awhile after returning everything to your fathers." He handed her the check.

"He actually paid it?" She questioned, beaten. The only man she could have been happy with, the one with whom she'd been very happy for a while, was out of her life forever. And, to top it off everything she did to him, she was probably making he relinquish a dream too. "He wanted to save money to fulfill a dream... I..."

"He didn't use the money he was saving for it." She didn't mind the fact that Sebastian seem to know what it was. She had too many problems to bother with it. "He sold the car and got some money from Burt... and he's working and everything... so it will pay off, soon." He tried to soften.

"All right." Trying to convey a sense of peace she was not feeling, she placed the check on a corner table and signed the document, releasing Finn from any contractual commitment.

"Divorce can be done by proxy... I think you two will prefer it, right?" Seb also reported, in its role as a lawyer, even though, as a friend, he didn't want to join any separation. Rachel just nodded, then she said goodbye to her friend, who knew very well that no visit was welcome there at that moment.

That night, unable to bear so much pain, guilt and nostalgia, and afraid of never fully recovering, the girl herself took the initiative to seek a remedy to make her sleep. However, before she could find the medication, another thing forgotten inside a cardboard box caught her attention. Folded and slightly dented, inside a white envelope, still with the typical smell of Chanel No. 5, was the letter Ethel had left her, with her last will.

Rachel did not hesitate and began to read it again, letting the words of her aunt penetrate her heart, wich, unfortunately, she had not done at the right time, months before. Seeing that her aunt was right about the importance of love, understanding now the reasons that led the old lady to put marriage as a condition for her niece to receive the inheritance, realizing what her aunt had tried to do for her and that she had not allowed herself to receive the best part of the gift from the woman to whom life had given so much wisdom, Rachel knew exactly what she had to do.

Two days later, Jesse was in his apartment, packing, to go on another trip with the theater company he was part of, when the doorbell rang and, thinking it was Finn who didn't have keys to his place and was out, he opened the door without even looking through the peephole or ask who it was.

"Rachel?" He said, surprised.

"I know you must hate me, Jesse. And you have every reason." She said, entering the livingroom. "You have every reason and... all my friends will know what I did and will hate me too and... well, I Know I'm just reaping what I sowed." She talked nonstop and fast, and he, having been caught off guard, just listened. "I just want you to know that I'm suffering a lot! A lot, Jesse! Life already undertook to punish me. Do you remember when Santana and Sebastian studied judicial pardon?"

"No." He said, confused. What legal studies had to do with the relationship problems of Rachel and Finn?

"In some countries, there's this thing... it's when the judge doesn't punish those who committed the crime, because the consequences of the crime itself has greatly affected the criminal... like when a mother kills her child by accident, you know? Why and how would they punish the mother if she had lost the best thing in her life?"

"I see, but... what does this have to do with you?"

"It's that... Jesse, what I did was very serious and I really hurt a person who didn't deserve it... I know it. But I've been punished, J." She looked into his friend's eyes, and he saw that she was holding the crying. "I lost Finn... that was the only person who could make me happy."

"I would never hate you, Ray." Jesse hugged Rachel. "I'm a little angry, yeah... and I've decided that, for now, Finn needed me more than you did." He loosened the hug and stared at her. "But I will never abandon you, my diva. You will ALWAYS be my best lady friend, even though I don't understand anything of what you did."

"Nothing I can say will justify what I did, Jesse. But if you want an explanation... a short and objective explanation... I was afraid that Finn wanted the situation... and not the person."

"The situation and not the person?" He asked after a laugh.

"Yes... what's the fun in that?" She questioned, angrily.

"There's no fun, actually... It's just ironic." He shrugged.

"Why is that ironic?"

"Finn would NEVER be with a woman because of her... situation... as you want to call it." She looked at him, confused, then he continued. "But I can't explain why I'm so sure about that, Ray. Even being your friend, I wont tell you anything about Finn's life that he didn't told you... I'm sorry."

"All right. I understand." She breathed. "He's here with you, right?"

"Uh-huh... and he must be getting home soon. Guess you better go."

"I need to return him the check he gave to Seb to pay the penalty, Jesse."

"I don't know if it's a good idea, hon. You can let it here..."

"No. No, he deserves to receive the check from my hands. He deserves to hear that I'm sorry. I know it's over but I will not be a coward and leave the check with you... and pretend he does not exist anymore. I wont! "

Jesse knew well when he could not convince his friend, so packed up quickly and left the house, leaving Rachel waiting for Finn. If they broke everything in his apartment, he would charge them after the injury.

Both were entitled to a last conversation, a worthy closure, a moment that belonged to them alone, without any witness.