Chapter 12
Desmond wrote to me after eight months.
Not asking to return.
Good.
The letter was short.
I was jealous of a child and let older people rename that jealousy as responsibility.
Accurate.
Then:
I loved you and still wanted a version of your life where I was more central than I had any right to demand.
Better.
He apologized for packing Priscilla’s things.
For the cake.
For the sentence about replacement.
For agreeing to Rose House.
No explanation about stress.
No blame on Cordelia.
Useful.
I kept the letter.
Not because I wanted him back.
Because truthful apologies deserve to exist even when they change nothing.
He eventually left Fairchild family work.
Not because of me.
According to mutual acquaintances, he realized how much of his identity depended on being attached to stronger structures.
Fine.
Growth does not require reunion.
I never showed Priscilla his letter.
May you like
She had not asked.
Her childhood did not need adult closure delivered into it for our comfort.
