Chapter 2: The Letter Anna Left Behind
David forgot how to breathe.
The noise outside disappeared.
The violin.
The footsteps.
The voices.
Everything faded until there was only the paper in his hands.
Anna’s handwriting.
The same handwriting that had filled grocery lists, birthday cards, and notes she left beside his coffee cup.
The same handwriting he had not seen in years.
“David?”” Maya whispered.
He didn’t answer.
Lauren moved closer.
“Give me that.””
David looked up.
“No.””
Her expression changed.
“David, you don’t know what that says.””
“You’re right.””
He looked down again.
“But I know you don’t want me reading it.””
Lauren’s face went pale.
Sophie stepped closer to Maya.
“Daddy?””
David looked at his daughter.
He forced his voice to soften.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.””
But he didn’t know if he believed that anymore.
He unfolded the letter completely.
His eyes moved across the page.
David,
If you are reading this, something happened that made Sophie’s locket open.
I need you to listen carefully.
His fingers tightened.
Anna had written this before she died.
Before the hospital.
Before the goodbye he never got to finish.
There are things I never told you because I was afraid of what they would do to our family.
David swallowed.
Maya leaned closer.
“What does it say?””
He read silently for another moment.
Then his face changed.
“What?””
Lauren whispered the word.
David looked at her.
“You knew.””
Her lips parted.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.””
“You knew about this letter.””
“No.””
“Anna wrote about you.””
The room went silent.
Maya stared at Lauren.
“What did Anna write?””
David kept reading.
I met Lauren three months before you did.
His heart stopped.
He looked up.
Lauren shook her head.
“No.””
David looked back at the letter.
She came to the hospital while I was receiving treatment. She said she wanted to help.
Maya’s eyes widened.
“Hospital?””
David’s voice became quiet.
“She knew Anna.””
Lauren immediately stepped forward.
“That’s not what it sounds like.””
David looked at her.
“Then explain.””
“I met her once.””
“You told me you had never seen her before.””
“I didn’t want to upset you.””
“You lied.””
Lauren’s face hardened.
“I was trying to protect you.””
David laughed once.
A painful sound.
“Protect me?””
He held up the letter.
“From my dying wife?””
Sophie covered her ears.
Maya immediately pulled her closer.
“David.””
He stopped.
He looked at his daughter.
The anger inside him changed.
Because this was not only about Anna anymore.
It was about Sophie.
It was about the woman standing in front of them.
The woman who had been slowly becoming part of their lives.
The woman who had secrets.
Lauren lowered her voice.
“David, please. Not in front of Sophie.””
He stared at her.
“You cared about Sophie so much that you forgot she was in the room when you broke her mother’s necklace.””
Lauren flinched.
Maya noticed.
“So what did Anna write?””
David looked down.
The next lines were shorter.
More urgent.
I saw something in Lauren that frightened me.
She asked questions about our family.
She asked about my illness.
She asked about my will.
David stopped reading.
Maya’s hand went to her mouth.
Lauren whispered, “That’s impossible.””
David looked at her.
“You were asking about my will?””
“I was concerned.””
“You weren’t even dating me yet.””
“I was helping Anna.””
“Helping her?””
His voice cracked.
“You met my dying wife and asked about her money?””
Lauren shook her head.
“No.””
But the denial came too quickly.
David noticed.
“So did Anna.””
Lauren froze.
“What?””
David looked at the letter again.
David, I don’t want you to hate someone because of my fear. I want you to look for proof.
His eyes moved down.
But please remember this.
Someone who loves Sophie will never make her choose between memories of her mother and a new family.
David closed his eyes.
That sentence hurt because Anna had known.
She had known there was a possibility.
She had known someone could come into their lives and try to erase her.
A sound came from the hallway.
The wedding coordinator.
“David? The guests are waiting.””
Nobody moved.
Then Lauren walked toward him.
“Don’t do this.””
David looked at her.
“Do what?””
“Throw away everything because of a letter written by someone who was sick and afraid.””
Maya stepped forward.
“Careful.””
Lauren ignored her.
“David, you love me.””
He said nothing.
“You chose me.””
Silence.
“You asked me to marry you.””
David looked at the wedding ring on her finger.
A ring he had picked himself.
A ring he had thought represented a second chance.
Now it felt like a question.
“Why did you take Anna’s envelope?””
Lauren looked away.
“I didn’t.””
“You did.””
“I swear—”
“Where is it?””
She said nothing.
That was the answer.
David slowly removed his own wedding band from his pocket.
The one he had planned to wear during the ceremony.
He placed it on the table.
Lauren stared.
“David.””
“I can’t marry someone I don’t know.””
Her eyes filled.
“You’re choosing a dead woman over me?””
The words came out before she could stop them.
Again.
The same cruelty.
The same truth.
David looked at her.
“No.””
He glanced at Sophie.
“I’m choosing my daughter.””
Lauren’s face collapsed.
For the first time, David saw the person behind the perfect smile.
Not love.
Not regret.
Fear.
A phone rang.
Everyone looked down.
It was Lauren’s phone.
The screen lit up.
A name appeared.
David saw it.
And his blood turned cold.
Because the person calling was not a friend.
Not a family member.
Not someone from the wedding.
May you like
It was the name of someone who should have been impossible.
Anna’s doctor.
