Chapter 21 - A Chilling New Midnight Discovery
That night, long after the house had fallen completely silent and dark, I tiptoed quietly into Mom’s downstairs recovery room.
She was fast asleep, her breathing deep and regular beneath the soft white cotton duvet we had bought her.
I noticed her leather travel tote still sitting zipped up tightly in the corner by the bedroom closet.
Something compelled me to walk over, kneel down, and unzip the front pocket one last time to see if anything else was hidden inside.
My fingers brushed against a folded, handwritten letter addressed to me, dated just three days before she left Columbus.
I pulled it out carefully, unfolding the lined notebook paper under the faint moonlight streaming through the window blinds.
May you like
My eyes scanned the opening lines written in her familiar, shaky handwriting, revealing a secret even darker than the cancer:
“My dearest Claire, if you are reading this letter, it means the doctors found the second hidden file I left behind in the attic, and you now know the true reason why I had to come to Atlanta before my time ran out...”
