All those years thinking she had moved on… and now this.
Mia handed me a single sealed envelope.
“This one—we didn’t read. It felt different. It’s addressed to you.”
I held it in my hands. It felt heavy.
“You’ve had this all these years?” I asked.
“We didn’t know how to give it to you,” Kira admitted. “We were afraid. What if her last words asked you to stay away from us?”
“And then time just… passed,” I said quietly.
Mia nodded. “You should read it, Dad.”
I looked at Charlotte’s handwriting on the envelope, then slowly opened it.
“Daryl,
If you’re reading this, then I’ve either found the courage I never had… or I’ve run out of time.
I don’t know how to explain why I stayed away. I tried so many times, but every explanation felt like an excuse. You were never just part of my past.
You were the life I thought I would have.
I wanted to tell you the truth so many times. I wrote letters, but I never sent them. I kept waiting for the right moment.
