Chapter 19 - The LetterSix months later, a letter arrived.
No return address.
My hands froze when I recognized the handwriting.
Daniel.
For a long time, I didn't open it.
Then I did.
There were only a few paragraphs.
He apologized.
He said prison had changed him.
He said he understood what he had lost.
He asked whether I would ever forgive him.
I folded the letter.
Then I placed it in a drawer.
I didn't forgive him that day.
Maybe I never would.
But I realized something important.
Forgiveness didn't mean letting him back into my life.
It meant refusing to let his choices control the rest of mine.
That evening, Noah came into the kitchen.
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Are you happy now?"
I looked through the window.
My daughter was playing in the backyard.
Lila was planting flowers.
The sun was disappearing behind the trees.
"Yes."
May you like
I smiled.
"I really am."
