Chapter 24 - MARGARET’S LETTER
Margaret wrote Lily after completing her custodial sentence.
The first letter failed therapeutic review.
Grandma always loved you even when adults disagreed about family matters.
No.
The second:
I made a mistake.
No.
The third arrived almost two years later.
I called you a bastard even though I had seen a DNA test showing Daniel was your father.
I did that because your place in the Whitmore trust threatened decisions I wanted to protect.
You were seven. You had nothing to do with those decisions.
I chained you because I wanted to make you stop saying you belonged.
That was abuse.
I read it once because Lily asked.
Then she took it.
“Do I have to answer?”
“No.”
“Do I have to forgive her?”
“No.”
“Can I someday?”
“Yes.”
She folded the letter.
“That’s annoying.”
“What?”
“Having choices.”
I laughed.
“Welcome to adulthood.”
May you like
“I’m ten.”
“Practice.”
