reached for my hand.
“I didn’t know,” he said.
I looked at him through my tears.
“But you fell in love with me.”
“Yes.”
“Even though your mother chose me for a reason?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Especially because I discovered that the woman I loved was nothing like the person my family thought they could control.”
For a moment, I wanted to believe those words could fix everything.
Then Margaret stood up.
“There is one more thing you need to know.”
She walked to a cabinet and removed
a small metal box.
Inside was a letter addressed to me.
The handwriting was my mother’s.
I recognized it immediately.
My fingers trembled as I unfolded the paper.
My darling daughter,
If you are reading this, then the people I tried to protect you from have finally found you.
I need you to understand that I never abandoned your father. I loved him more than anything, but I had to choose between keeping him close and keeping you alive.
There is something I never told you about the night I
