Chapter 14 - When Adrian Died in Prison, His Final Letter Was Delivered to Me—and It Contained an Apology I Never ExpectedAdrian died at sixty-seven.
His lawyer sent me a final letter.
I almost threw it away.
Instead, I read it.
He admitted everything.
He admitted killing my mother.
He admitted using Luca.
He admitted the experiments.
He admitted manipulating Vincent.
Then he wrote:
I spent my life believing control was the same thing as strength.
He apologized.
Not enough.
Never enough.
But it was something.
The letter ended:
You proved me wrong. Medicine is not about controlling who lives. It is about refusing to give up on the person in front of you.
I kept the letter.
Not because I forgave him.
Because I wanted to remember how close we had come to becoming the same kind of people.
We didn't.
That mattered.
The hospital named a pediatric wing after my mother.
Another after Elena.
At the opening ceremony, Luca stood beside Vincent.
He was nearly an adult.
He held my hand.
“You saved Dad.”
I smiled.
“Your dad saved me too.”
He looked confused.
“When?”
“The day he trusted me.”
Luca smiled.
Then he pointed to his own arm.
“Do you still hate the scar?”
I shook my head.
May you like
“No.”
“Me neither.”
