“What?”
He handed me a small envelope.
“This was your grandfather’s last letter.”
My hands trembled as I opened it.
There were only a few lines.
Nathan,
If you’re reading this, then you survived the thirty days.
I wish I could have protected you from everything your father did.
But I couldn’t give you a life without hardship. I could only give you the chance to build one after it.
Remember this: You were never unwanted. You were never forgotten. And you were never the burden they made you believe you were.
You were my grandson.
And I was always proud of you.
I had to stop reading.
For eighteen years, I had waited for someone to tell me I mattered.
It turned out that someone had been trying to tell me all along.
I folded the letter carefully.
Then I looked at the board.
“I’ll accept the inheritance.”
