Chapter 1: The Letter
Chapter 1: The Letter
My hands trembled as I broke the seal.
The boys stood quietly beside me.
The entire lobby seemed to disappear.
There was only the letter.
Only her handwriting.
Only the past.
Alex,
If you're reading this, then Lucas and Noah finally found you.
First, before anything else, I'm sorry.
I never wanted it to happen this way.
I never wanted seven years to pass.
But I didn't have a choice.
I stopped reading.
My chest tightened.
Seven years earlier, Olivia Bennett had vanished from my life without warning.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Nothing.
Just gone.
I continued.
The night before I left, I discovered I was pregnant.
I tried to tell you.
Three times.
But every time I came to your apartment, someone turned me away.
Someone told me you didn't want to see me.
That you were engaged.
That you were moving on.
I felt sick.
Because I knew exactly who could have done that.
My former business partner.
Nathan Cross.
The same man who had tried to buy my company years ago.
The same man who hated Olivia.
The letter continued.
When I learned about your accident, I wanted to come back.
Then I heard the doctors believed you could never have children.
I realized nobody would believe me.
Not after years of silence.
Not after everything.
So I raised them alone.
Tears blurred the page.
Then I reached the final paragraph.
But now I'm sick, Alex.
And I don't have much time left.
The boys deserve to know their father.
Please don't blame them for my mistakes.
They have loved you their entire lives without ever meeting you.
Love,
Olivia
My knees nearly gave out.
The boys looked up at me.
"Is Mama okay?" Noah asked softly.
I couldn't answer.
May you like
Because deep down...
I already knew she wasn't.
