Chapter 10
There was no signature at the top, only a date from six years earlier—before my marriage to Alexander.
I read the first paragraph twice.
Then my eyes moved to the final line.
I need you to know what happened the night Emily came to the hospital.
My breath stopped.
The letter had been written by Olivia.
PART 3: The Letter Waiting Beneath Grace’s Pillow 001
I read the letter again.
Then I carried it to the window, as if the gray Toronto morning might make the words easier to understand.
They did not.
I need you to know what happened the night Emily came to the hospital.
My fingers tightened around the paper.
The letter continued.
Alexander,
I did not know whether to send this to you years ago, and by the time I understood what silence had cost, too much had already happened.
That night, Emily called me from the hospital.
She didn’t say Grace was dead. She only asked whether I knew where you were.
I told her you were at my birthday celebration.
She asked me to put you on the phone.
I should have done it.
Instead, I told her you were busy and that she shouldn’t create a scene.
I thought she was calling because she had seen the photographs Madison posted. I believed she wanted to embarrass you or make you choose between us.
I was wrong.
She asked again.
I still didn’t give you the phone.
When you called me later, you asked whether Emily had spoken to me. I said no.
That was a lie.
I was afraid you would see me differently if you knew.
I was afraid everyone would.
The truth is, I wanted to believe you had chosen me over her. Even after all these years, I wanted to believe I still mattered more.
But you hadn’t chosen me.
You had forgotten your daughter.
And I had helped you remain unaware for another hour.
I have carried that knowledge ever since.
Olivia
I reached the end of the page and found no signature beyond her name.
No excuse.
No request for forgiveness.
No attempt to soften what she had done.
I lowered the letter.
The apartment was quiet except for the hum of the refrigerator and the distant sound of traffic rising from the street.
I read it again.
Emily had called Olivia from the hospital.
That was the part I could not make sense of.