Chapter 2: The Letter
Chapter 2: The Letter
The little girl reached into her coat again.
Everyone tensed.
This time she removed a folded envelope.
Yellowed with age.
The edges worn and fragile.
"My mother gave me this before she died."
Eleanor froze.
Slowly, she opened it.
The handwriting hit her like a punch.
Her own.
Twenty years old.
Written by a frightened young woman.
The letter had been addressed to her daughter.
A letter she had written the night before the baby disappeared.
A letter she believed had been destroyed.
Her hands shook as she read.
"My sweet girl,
If you ever read this, know that I never stopped loving you.
If you're gone when I wake up tomorrow, it won't be because I gave you away.
It will be because I failed to protect you.
Please don't spend your life believing you were unwanted.
You were the most loved thing in my world."
Tears streamed down Eleanor's face.
The room watched in stunned silence.
For years, tabloids had called her ruthless.
Cold.
Unbreakable.
Yet now she looked like a mother grieving twenty lost years in a single moment.
The little girl's eyes filled with tears too.
"My mom said she found that letter hidden inside the locket."
Eleanor looked up.
"Your mom?"
The girl nodded.
"The woman who raised me."
May you like
A faint smile appeared.
"She said you deserved a chance to tell the truth yourself."
