“And my children?”
“He protected my house by taking away my family.”
“I told him he was hurting you more than he was protecting you.”
“Then why stay?”
“Because I thought a dying man had the right to choose how he spent his final months.”
She wiped her cheek.
“I didn’t understand that he was choosing for you, too.”
I unfolded Robert’s letter.
She wiped her cheek.
His handwriting trembled across the first line.
“Greta,
I used your money because I believed saving the business meant saving our family.
I left because I believed protecting your future mattered more than telling you the truth.
Both times, I made the choice alone.”
“I used your money.”
“I called it love because fear sounded worse.
You deserved the choice I took from you.”
I folded the letter.
Claire watched me. “Are you all right?”
“No.”
I picked up my phone.