Chapter 6: The Truth Sophie Heard
I didn’t sleep that night.
I sat in the kitchen reading every letter Emily had written.
Each one showed me a side of my wife I had forgotten.
Not the woman who was dying.
The woman who was fighting.
Emily wrote about Sophie’s future.
Her first dance.
Her first heartbreak.
Her first day driving.
The things I had been afraid to imagine because I thought imagining them meant accepting Emily wouldn’t be there.
Then I found the final letter.
The one Vanessa had hidden for ten years.
Daniel,
If Sophie asks about me, tell her I loved her.
Don’t tell her I was afraid.
Don’t tell her about my pain.
A child should remember her mother’s laughter, not her mother’s goodbye.
Tears blurred the words.
For the first time in years, I admitted something I never wanted to face.
I had been keeping Emily alive by keeping myself trapped in the past.
A small voice came from behind me.
“Daddy?””
I turned.
Sophie stood there holding her blanket.
My heart stopped.
“How long have you been awake?””
She looked at the letters.
“Long enough.””
I quickly wiped my face.
“Sophie…”
She walked closer.
“Was Mommy mad at you?””
I looked at my daughter.
The question hurt because I knew she deserved an honest answer.
“No, sweetheart.””
I held her hand.
“Mommy loved me.””
“Then why did she write those letters?””
I looked toward the stairs where Vanessa stood silently watching us.
And I finally understood.
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Emily’s last gift wasn’t the bracelet.
It was the truth.
