Vanessa eventually found work.
Derek did too.
Funny what people become capable of when nobody else pays the bills.
My mother sent letters.
I returned them unopened.
Then one afternoon, a plain envelope arrived with no return address.
Inside was a photograph.
My father holding me when I was about seven.
Behind it was a note in Evelyn’s handwriting.
Your father poisoned you against me from the grave. I hope the money was worth losing your family.
I read it twice.
Then I placed it in a drawer with my father’s letter.
Not because I wanted to keep her words.
Because I wanted the twins to understand someday why I made the decision I made next.
I changed my number.
I updated every account.
I froze my credit.
I revised my will.
And then I cut contact completely.
Not dramatically.
Not with a final speech.
Not with revenge.
