I'm personally not speculating about the "incident" until more details are revealed. I'm sure it will be important to the story, but it is probably too late for whatever it was to retroactively change my opinion of either Andrew or Marina. I think whatever it was should have been revealed a long time ago. I just do not see anything (abuse, cheating with a man or woman, crossdressing, etc.) at this point in the story that will either fit the character that we've grown to know or have enough of an impact to influence my feelings. Andrew apologized for whatever it was. Marina forgave him. If she didn't truly forgive him, she should have ended their relationship. Simple as that for me.
Besides looking at people's actions, I look at their inactions too. Marina's lack of communication with Andrew has been so emotionally damaging to him. A few reassuring words like "Don't worry honey, I still love you!" or "Your still my husband no matter what you look like!", was all Andrew really would have needed to have not kept spiraling downward. I like Marina. I believe she is truly trying to help, but her actions and inactions have made things worse, for both of them. Assuming that the Samaras family is evil, Marina has failed to protect her husband from them. Nobody else but her could have stepped in and prevented some of this from happening to Andrew. She could end the charade right now at pool if she wanted to. Get everyone into the water and talk openly about the situation. If she doesn't, what happens next is more on her than it is on Andrew/Elena (*in my opinion). She and Andrew can go to a US Embassy or Consulate, get new paperwork, and go back to America. Easy as that! Leave the evil Samaras family behind to deal with the mafia or whatever is really going on. Do I want the story to end like that? No, I don't. I would prefer to see Melissa come up with a creative explanation to at least acknowledge why the "easy solution" isn't being used.
That is a massive plot hole in the story. Andrew will need to be legally declared dead, which opens up a huge can of worms. Also, Elena will forever be linked to Andrew (DNA, fingerprints, etc.). I don't see a realistic solution (without magic). Yes, we can blindly ignore it and say that gender bender erotica doesn't have to make sense, but that feels like a disservice to writers who have written nice, well-thought-out stories. Even a story with a silly plot like the famous
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, is actually quite a solid story because it doesn't break the rules of the universe it is in (one where wishes come true).
Aphrodite's Mirror is set in the our world, in the year 2023, in Greece. It is supposed to abide by our logic and our rules. It has not been doing that. It isn't our fault as readers that the story doesn't fit the setting.
I'm fine with Marina ending up with James, if that comes with Andrew's blessing. Without Andrew's blessing/encouragement, it will feel like a dark ending where Marina gave up on trying to rescue Andrew, who basically just ends up trapped as Elena. Does Marina need permission to date James? No, she doesn't. She can do whatever she wants, but she isn't going to come across as a good character if she does it out of spite just to get even with Andrew. That would be a dark NTRish ending, which according to Melissa, we are not going to get.
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No dark ending. Not a bad taste left in our mouths is kind of hinting at it not being bittersweet either.