There is something else you must know.
The letter ended there.
The bottom half of the page had been torn away.
I searched the envelope, then every bundle in the chest.
The missing section was gone.
My frustration erupted. I scattered the letters across the floor, examining each one, but none completed the message.
At last, I pressed play on the recorder.
Static filled the cabin.
Then Carl’s voice emerged.
“Anna, if you have reached this point, you know I was your father.”
Hearing him say it broke something inside me.
“I wish I could ask your forgiveness in person,” he continued. “But I suspect I would not deserve it, and you would not offer it easily. That stubbornness is mine, I’m afraid.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
“I stayed away because Evelyn believed you would be used against me. At first, I agreed. Later, when I realized the threat had faded, I told myself you were happy with Nora. By the time I understood the truth, you were old enough to hate me for my silence.”
