Belle sighed, taking a long sip of tea to avoid having to respond right away. She had spent so long defending Rumple, insisting that he was a good man, deep down. That he wasn't beyond saving. But with everything that had happened, she couldn't keep pretending that was true. Ever time, every single time, she gave him a chance to prove he could be better, he gave in to his lust for power. Even when all the darkness had been removed from his heart, the first thing he had done was try to get the darkness back for power. She couldn't pretend that it was the Dark One corrupting him. It was just him. It had gotten to a point where she was forced to admit that there really wasn't any hope for him left.
"Yes," she admitted finally. "Some people are. But everyone deserves to be given a chance before it reaches that point. A real chance. Most people can change. Not all of them, but most. Some just...choose not to. And I can't keep hoping for something that will never happen. My husband doesn't want to change. He never will. No matter what it costs him...power is the only thing he really loves. I will not allow my son to get dragged into that kind of life. I spent enough of my own life caught up in his power plays." She reached up to wipe away tears, embarrassed she was getting emotional. "I'm sorry...I just...it's...it's a lot. I loved him...I really did. And I can't help but wonder why I wasn't...why we weren't enough for him."