Chapter 45 Present
Tears blurred the ink as everything came flooding back. The hurt. The pain. The anger. Every emotion I thought I’d buried came roaring to the surface. I kept reliving that night—over and over—desperately trying to piece it together, to make sense of what really happened.
I wanted to crumple up the article… but I didn’t. Destroying it wouldn’t change the truth. Wouldn’t bring him back. Wouldn’t fix any of it.
I was getting pulled deeper into all of this—drowning in it—but I couldn’t stop now. I had to know who sent the box. Who wanted me to see all of this.
My eyes fell on the stack of letters, bundled with a rubber band like someone had tossed them together in a hurry and then changed their mind.
The one on top was unopened. My name was written on the front in black faded ink.
Even after everything I’d already read, my hands still shook as I turned the envelope over and carefully broke the seal.
The paper inside was soft with age. I didn’t even bother reading the letter, I let my eyes reach the signature line, my breath caught and my heart dropped into my stomach.
Nick.
I folded the letter and slid it carefully back into the envelope. Then I just sat there—silent, unmoving. Letting the weight of everything settle around me.
Finally, I found my voice.
“Mom?” I called out.
She appeared almost instantly, stepping in from just around the corner. She’d been waiting—giving me space, but not leaving me alone.
My voice cracked, “I need your help.”
She didn’t ask what for, she just nodded.
“Just say the word,” she said.
And I knew she meant it.
Mind driving me somewhere?