Chapter 13 - The Second Apology Was Different
The second letter arrived almost a year after the birthday.
Short.
No stationery.
No family crest.
Just white paper.
Sophie,
I slapped your father. I destroyed your birthday cake. I called you a disgrace and said you were nothing to me. Those words were cruel and false. You did nothing to deserve them.
I stopped reading for a second.
Rachel looked at me.
“Better.”
I continued.
I treated you differently from your cousins because I was angry that your father built a life I could not control. I blamed you for changes that were never your responsibility.
That sentence mattered.
I do not expect you to forgive me. If you never want to see me again, I will accept that.
We showed Sophie.
She read slowly.
Then asked:
“Did Grandma write this?”
“Yes.”
“Why now?”
“I think she finally understood what she did.”
Sophie thought about it.
“Do I have to answer?”
“No.”
She folded the letter.
“I want to keep it.”
“Okay.”
“Can I not see her yet?”
“Absolutely.”
That was the beginning.
Not reconciliation.
The possibility of one.
May you like
On Sophie’s terms.
Exactly as it should have been.
