Chapter 7 - Diane Kept One Final Address
Margaret remembered a box Diane left in storage.
Clara had never opened it.
She thought it contained tax records.
Inside were photographs, letters, and one unopened envelope addressed to
Clara.
Diane had written it shortly before her death.
Clara read it privately first.
Then she chose what to share.
Diane confirmed Eleanor was Clara’s biological mother.
She wrote:
I never gave birth to you, but every morning after you arrived, I chose
to be your mother.
Clara cried.
The letter also contained an address in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Diane wrote that Eleanor contacted her once, seventeen years after
disappearing.
Eleanor was alive then.
She asked about Clara but refused to return.
Diane was furious.
She told Eleanor that protecting a child from afar could become another
form of abandonment.
Clara paused.
That sentence hurt because it did not turn Eleanor into a perfect
victim.
Eleanor had reasons to flee.
She also stayed away for years.
At the bottom, Diane wrote:
If you ever want answers, this was her last address. You owe nobody a
reunion.
Clara folded the letter.
Daniel asked what she wanted to do.
“Find out if she’s alive.”
Vanessa whispered:
“I’ll help.”
Clara looked at her.
“No.”
One word.
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
May you like
She had spent the morning deciding where Clara belonged.
She did not get to decide this too.
