Chapter 16
Agatha changed slowly.
Not because I demanded it.
Because nobody rescued her from consequences.
No staff obeyed her automatically.
No relatives carried messages unless invited.
No access to Sienna.
Months passed.
Then she wrote Maren a letter.
The first line said:
I was cruel because I believed suffering made people worthy of the Vassallo name.
Maren read it twice.
Then handed it to me.
“That’s new.”
“Yes.”
Agatha continued:
I told myself Ronan survived me, therefore my methods worked. I refused to consider that he survived despite them.
I stopped reading.
That sentence hurt.
Maren touched my arm.
“You okay?”
“No.”
Fair answer.
The letter did not ask for immediate forgiveness.
Better.
It admitted hunger.
The storage room.
The bell.
The threats about the children.
No euphemisms.
Maren folded it.
“Do you want to see her?”
I asked.
“Not yet.”
“Okay.”
“And you?”
I thought.
“Maybe.”
Different boundaries.
May you like
Allowed.
Family healing does not require synchronized forgiveness.
