Chapter 30 - my father’s apology
I read the letter alone.
My father explained that he had discovered the missing funds shortly before his death.
He had suspected Richard.
But he couldn't prove the entire route of the money.
He had created the list so someone could eventually finish the investigation.
Then came the sentence that changed how I remembered him.
I thought protecting you meant keeping this burden away from you. I was wrong.
I cried.
My entire childhood, I had believed my father had protected me.
Now I understood the cost of that protection.
He had loved me.
But he had also underestimated me.
At the bottom of the letter, he wrote:
When you find this, don't punish everyone for what a few people did. Fix what can be fixed. Let the truth belong where it belongs. Then let yourself live.
I folded the letter.
For years, I had believed my father's unfinished business was a burden.
Now it felt like permission.
Permission to finish it.
May you like
And permission to stop carrying it afterward.
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