Chapter 8 - The Letter From Madison
Almost a year later, I received a letter.
From Madison.
I didn't want to read it.
But I did.
She wrote:
Ethan,
I know you hate me.
I stopped.
I didn't hate her.
I hated what she had done.
The distinction mattered.
She continued.
I don't expect forgiveness.
I know I destroyed your trust.
But I want to tell you that Olivia changed me.
I almost stopped reading.
Then I continued.
Madison wrote that prison therapy had forced her to confront the person she had become.
She admitted she had wanted money.
Control.
Security.
She admitted that she had seen Olivia as an obstacle.
That sentence made my stomach twist.
But she also wrote something else.
I will never ask to see her.
That was the only part that mattered.
She understood she had lost that right.
I folded the letter.
I didn't respond.
Some wounds don't need closure.
They need distance.
I placed the letter in a box.
Then I went to pick Olivia up from school.
She ran toward me.
“Daddy!”
I opened my arms.
She jumped into them.
“Guess what?”
“What?”
“I got a gold star!”
“Why?”
“Because I helped another girl when she was crying.”
I smiled.
“That's wonderful.”
She looked up at me.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Are you proud?”
I kissed her forehead.
May you like
“Every single day.”
And I meant it.
