Chapter 9 - What Laura Had Written Before Surgery
The laptop had not been opened in almost two years.
Rachel brought it to Daniel’s house.
They did not need to break into anything.
Laura had used the same password Daniel knew from their shared household accounts.
The folder contained thirty-seven emails exported from her account before surgery.
Most were ordinary.
Apologies.
College memories.
Stories about Sophie.
Laura teasing Amanda about a terrible apartment they once shared.
Amanda apologizing again for betraying her confidence years earlier.
Then the tone changed.
Laura wrote about fear.
Not dramatic fear.
Practical fear.
Whether Sophie would remember her voice.
Whether Daniel would become so focused on keeping life functioning that he would avoid talking about her.
Whether everyone would turn Laura into “the perfect dead mother” instead of a real person.
One email stopped Daniel completely.
If I don’t get through this, please don’t let Sophie grow up around people who are afraid to say my name.
Daniel covered his mouth.
Rachel looked away.
The next paragraph continued.
You remember the messy version of me. I need somebody to give her that too.
Then came the sentence Amanda had not wanted Daniel to read.
This is about Sophie. Not Daniel. Please don’t confuse those things.
Daniel stared at the screen.
There it was.
A boundary.
Clear.
Specific.
Laura had trusted Amanda with part of Sophie’s memory.
She had not asked Amanda to become Daniel’s friend.
She had certainly not asked her to build a relationship on a false accidental meeting.
Another email revealed that Amanda had asked whether Daniel knew they had reconnected.
Laura answered:
Not yet. I’ll tell him after surgery when everything is calmer.
She never got the chance.
Daniel continued reading.
In one of Amanda’s replies, she promised:
I won’t make this about us. I swear.
Rachel closed her eyes.
The evidence was becoming painful in a different way.
Amanda had not invented Laura’s trust.
Laura had genuinely given it.
That made Amanda’s later deception worse, not better.
Then Daniel reached the last email.
Sent by Laura the night before she entered the hospital.
The pendant is for Sophie someday. Keep it until she’s old enough not to lose it. Tell her we were stupid, stubborn, and lucky enough to forgive each other before it was too late.
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
Sophie had not stolen Amanda’s pendant.
May you like
She had accidentally found something that had belonged to her all along.
And Amanda had known it.
