Chapter 6 - THE FIRST APOLOGY
Declan contacted my attorney, not me.
That was the first thing he did right.
My lawyer, Rebecca Sloan, called on Thursday.
“Your ex-husband wants a meeting.”
“I don't.”
“He says he has evidence that Eleanor fabricated the accusation that ended your marriage.”
I closed my office door.
“What evidence?”
“An email and server records. He wants to provide copies.”
I sat down.
“Send everything to you. I don't need to see him.”
Rebecca agreed.
Two days later, she forwarded the documents.
I read the email once.
Then again.
My hands went cold.
For five years, I had wondered whether there was something I had done wrong. Whether I had missed a warning. Whether Declan had simply stopped loving me and needed an excuse.
Now I knew his mother had built the excuse herself.
It did not make the divorce hurt less.
It made the hurt sharper.
That evening, Declan sent a letter through Rebecca.
Cassidy,
I don't expect this to repair anything. I only want you to know that the accusation I believed was false. My mother arranged it. I should have trusted you. I should have investigated. I should have stood beside you.
I failed you before I knew you were carrying our daughters.
I am not asking you to let me into their lives immediately. I am asking for the chance to earn the right to know them, at a pace you consider safe.
I am sorry.
Declan.
I folded the letter.
Naomi found me sitting in the dark.
“You okay?”
I nodded, then shook my head.
“I spent years telling myself I didn't need him to believe me.”
“You didn't.”
“But I wanted him to.”
Naomi sat beside me.
“That's allowed.”
I looked at the letter.
May you like
“I don't know what I want now.”
“You don't have to know tonight.”
