Chapter 24 - The Letter
Six months after the trial, Naomi returned the sealed letter Elijah wrote before surgery.
“You never opened it?”
“No.”
He took it.
“Why?”
“You survived. Say what you meant yourself.”
They sat on a bench outside St. Andrews.
Elijah held the envelope.
“I wrote that leaving you was the worst decision of my life.”
Naomi looked toward the hospital garden.
“It was not your worst decision.”
He nodded.
“No. Ignoring Trial 6 was worse. Building a company where people feared telling me the truth was worse. Failing Toby was worse.”
She looked at him then.
“That is the first honest thing you have said about us.”
“I did love you.”
“You loved who you were when I admired you.”
The sentence hurt.
He accepted it.
“I want to become someone Toby can admire without lying to him.”
“Then do that.”
“What about you?”
Naomi stood.
“Do not make your growth dependent on receiving me as a reward.”
He looked down at the letter.
“I understand.”
And this time, he almost did.
Naomi walked back into the hospital.
Elijah tore the letter in half.
Not because the apology was false.
May you like
Because it had been written for a man hoping one sacrifice could erase years of choices.
He needed to become better even if Naomi never returned.
