Chapter 18 - The Final Letter
A year after the assault, a letter arrived at my office from the Sterling Correctional Facility in Eastern Colorado.
It was from Ryan, written on lined yellow notebook paper in shaky, uncharacteristic handwriting.
Claire,
I don't expect you to forgive me. I know I lost the right to be a husband and a father the night I listened to my dad instead of protecting you.
I spend every day in here thinking about what I did. I missed Maya's birth. I missed her first steps. I ruined everything.
My father blames everyone but himself, even in prison. He still thinks he did nothing wrong. But I know the truth now.
You weren't the one who broke our family, Claire. We were corrupt from the inside out, and you were the only real thing in my life.
I signed the final parental rights termination papers today. Maya deserves a real mother, and a better life than anything I could give her.
Goodbye, Claire.
May you like
I read the letter quietly, then folded it neatly and placed it inside a storage box in my desk drawer.
I didn't reply. Some doors, once closed by fire and truth, are meant to remain locked forever.
