Chapter 12 - CLAIRE’S LETTER
Two years after the incident, Claire sent a letter through her attorney.
The no-contact conditions remained.
She could not contact Valerie directly.
Her attorney asked whether I wanted to receive it.
I said yes.
It was six pages.
I expected excuses.
There were some.
Then she crossed them out by hand.
One paragraph remained:
I kept telling myself you abandoned me with two children. That was not true. I volunteered because I wanted to be necessary to you. Then I resented the work required to remain necessary.
I read that again.
Another:
Valerie became the easiest person to blame because she could not leave, challenge me, or expose me without risking the relationship she thought you needed.
There it was.
The motive in Claire’s own words.
Need.
Resentment.
Control.
She apologized.
Not perfectly.
But specifically.
I did not show Valerie.
Not yet.
Her therapist agreed.
An apology is not automatically therapeutic merely because the offender wants to give one.
I stored it with the legal records.
Not Amelia’s letters.
May you like
Different box.
Different meaning.
