[ Which truth would that be? There are so many tangled up in lies that Verso is going to lose track before the end. And, unfortunately for him, it's getting harder to tell when that end might arrive. It may never.

Can silence be loud through texts? Because the pause here is...

...substantial. ]

The truth is that Renoir is deluded. He's holding onto the past, something he can no longer have, and he doesn't like that I've gotten close with anyone else. He feels threatened.

Maelle

[ There's just...no way he's laying it all out in the open. It's impossible at this point. Despite having watched Gustave on and off for at least sixteen years now, he's not about to trust the man with the full of it. He can't trust any of them with the truth of this tragic fantasy they're all trapped in.

Maelle is the key. Is he supposed to believe that Gustave would agree in helping send her back? ]

Maelle shares a resemblance to my younger sister, so Renoir has cornered her as the main threat to restoring his relationship with me. Like with most things, he's grievously mistaken. I stopped thinking of him as my father long before any of you were in the picture.

I'm not sure why he brought Clea into it, but as far as I'm aware, Maelle hasn't met her yet.

[ Although she seems to want to. ]