Chapter 11
Vanessa did not contact Julian for a year.
Good.
She sent one letter.
He showed me only one paragraph.
Not because I asked.
Because he needed perspective.
I read:
I thought a baby would make me impossible to leave. I see now that I was trying to turn love into a guarantee, and there are no guarantees that do not become cages when people are forced to live inside them.
Good.
Painful.
True.
She did not ask for him back.
Better.
She apologized specifically for allowing Avice to build affection around a sibling that did not exist.
That mattered.
Children had been forgotten in most adult discussions of the fake pregnancy.
Not by Julian anymore.
He did not show Avice the letter.
Too young.
Correct.
Then he asked:
“Do I answer?”
“What do you want?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then don’t yet.”
Apparently uncertainty can be allowed to remain.
Novel concept for Lombardis.
He eventually replied months later.
Three sentences.
I’m glad you told the truth now. I hope you keep doing that. Please do not contact Avice directly.
Boundary.
No cruelty.
No invitation.
Vanessa respected it.
Good.
I never contacted her.
Not my relationship.
That restraint was harder than expected.
May you like
Powerful fathers love meddling long after usefulness ends.
I was trying to retire that habit before anyone retired me forcibly.
