Chapter 8 - THE LETTER WITHOUT A RETURN ADDRESSSix months after I moved into the townhouse, a letter appeared beneath my front door.
There was no stamp.
No return address.
Only my name, written in careful blue ink.
Claire Marsh.
I stood in the narrow hallway for almost a minute before touching it.
The last envelope connected to Daniel had contained a stolen signature, an unfinished promise to Renee, and a plan to leave me carrying his debts. Since then, every piece of mail made my shoulders tighten before my mind could remind my body that the danger was over.
But danger does not always leave when the locks are changed.
Sometimes it simply learns your new address.
Inside was a single sheet of notebook paper.
Mrs. Marsh,
My name is Sophie Lane. My mother is Renee.
I know you probably hate us. I would understand if you threw this away.
Daniel told me he was going to become my stepfather. He said we would live in a house with a garden. After he died, my mother stopped talking about him. She cries when she thinks I’m asleep.
I found your address on an old envelope.
I only want to know whether Daniel ever told you about me.
The letter slipped slightly between my fingers.
Renee had a daughter.
Daniel had not only been building a second life.
He had invited a child into it.
I read the letter three times.
Then I sat on the bottom stair and stared at the wall until evening darkened the windows.
Daniel had never mentioned Sophie.
There had been no photographs of her in the shared account. No school expenses in the records Patricia reviewed. No birthday gifts I could identify.
He had hidden the child more carefully than he had hidden Renee.
That realization did not make me angry at Sophie.
It made me understand something worse.
Daniel had known exactly which parts of his lies would make him look human.
So he kept those parts separate.
I placed the letter on my kitchen table.
For two days, I did not answer.
On the third morning, I wrote one sentence.
No, Sophie. He never told me about you.
May you like
Then I added another.
But none of this was your fault.
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