Chapter 28 - nora finally asked marissa the question that still hurt
At fifteen, Nora wrote Marissa one question.
She had not responded to the apology.
This was different.
Did you ever actually love me?
I wished she had chosen anything else.
Marissa took nearly a month.
Her answer was painful because it did not flatter anyone.
I cared about you.
I enjoyed you sometimes.
I wanted your affection when it confirmed I belonged in the family.
But when your needs competed with the version of family I wanted, I treated your needs as the problem.
I do not think that was the kind of love a child should have had to depend on.
Nora read it.
Then cried harder than she had reading any legal document.
Because abuse was easier to organize emotionally if Marissa had never cared at all.
Reality was messier.
She had cared.
And still harmed.
Nora asked:
“Does that make it worse?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think?”
“Yes.”
I thought.
Then:
“Maybe it makes it more real.”
Nora nodded.
She never wrote back.
May you like
The answer was not a bridge.
It was information.
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