Chapter 20 - VICTORIA’S FIRST LETTER
Victoria wrote from custody.
The first letter was useless.
Alexander,
Everything I did was to preserve what your father and grandfather built.
I stopped reading.
Returned it to counsel.
The second:
I know you believe Emma was the victim of my choices. I also lost my son.
Rejected.
The third arrived a year later.
No defense in the first paragraph.
I lied to Emma because I was afraid you would abandon the foundation if you knew it was failing.
Better.
Then:
I continued lying because admitting the first lie would have exposed the money.
Better.
Then:
I made Sophia poor because poverty made Emma easier to manage.
I stopped.
That sentence hurt.
Finally:
I told myself the six hundred dollars was enough because the cottage was free. I knew what fifty thousand could have given them. That difference was the point.
Truth.
Ugly.
Precise.
I finished the letter.
Victoria did not ask forgiveness.
She asked permission to write Sophia when Sophia was older.
I gave no answer.
That would be Sophia’s choice.
The letter remained in a sealed family file.
Emma read it later.
She sat quietly.
“She knows.”
“Yes.”
“Does that help?”
“No.”
“Me neither.”
May you like
Understanding is not relief automatically.
Sometimes it simply removes confusion.
