Chapter 18 - THE LETTERS FROM PRISON
Brandon wrote to Sophie every month.
The first letters contained too many explanations.
He described bad advice.
Pressure.
Fear.
I returned them through his attorney.
The therapist advised that letters to Sophie should focus on her life, not his defense.
Gradually, they changed.
How is school?
Do you still draw purple horses?
I remember your first lost tooth even though I did not call.
I should have called.
Sophie chose which letters to read.
She kept some.
Ignored others.
She wrote back once during the second year.
I am still mad.
I don’t want you to tell me why anymore.
I want you to ask me things.
Brandon’s next letter contained only questions.
Sophie answered two.
Their relationship became a thin thread.
Not restored.
Not destroyed.
Real.
Brandon also wrote to me.
He apologized for the affair.
The forged signature.
The gala.
Then he wrote:
I hated the Whitmore name before I even knew it.
I hated every invisible advantage because it proved my success was not entirely mine.
I hated you for seeing me before I became impressive.
That sentence felt true.
He had wanted love without judgment.
Then he became contemptuous of the person who knew him before status.
I responded only once.
I should have told you the truth about my family.
That failure belongs to me.
Everything you did after choosing deception belongs to you.
We do not need to merge those responsibilities.
May you like
He sent no more letters to me.
He continued writing to Sophie.
