Chapter 15
Eleanor requested a supervised visit six months later.
I said no.
She sent a letter through her attorney.
Nadine read it first.
This one was different.
No blame.
No performance.
Richard,
I confused control with love because control was all your father left me. That does not excuse what I did. I failed Claire. I failed Sophie. I failed you.
I am entering therapy.
I do not ask to see Sophie. I ask only that someday, if she chooses, you tell her I know I was wrong.
I read it twice.
Then placed it in a file.
Sophie deserved truth when she was older.
Not pressure now.
My mother did enter therapy.
She sold the house where I grew up and moved into a smaller place.
She stepped down from the company board.
She stopped calling.
That silence was the first respectful thing she gave us.
A year passed.
Vanessa appealed and lost.
My mother remained away.
Sophie turned eight with a garden party at Claire’s parents’ house.
She ate cake with frosting on her nose.
She opened presents without flinching.
When someone dropped a metal bowl in the kitchen, she startled.
Then she breathed.
Then she kept playing.
May you like
Progress is not never being scared.
Progress is fear leaving faster.
