Chapter 15 - Liam's Unexpected Request
Liam called three weeks later.
"Can we talk?"
My stomach tightened.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
We met at a coffee shop.
He looked nervous.
"I heard you're engaged."
"Yes."
He nodded.
"Congratulations."
"Thank you."
Then he placed an envelope on the table.
I didn't touch it.
"What is that?"
"A letter."
"For me?"
"For Daniel."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because there are things he should know."
My entire body tensed.
"Liam—"
"Nothing bad."
He pushed the envelope toward me.
"You can read it."
I did.
It contained no warning.
No jealousy.
No sabotage.
Liam had written about Hailey.
Her fear of thunderstorms.
Her strawberry allergy.
The song she liked before bed.
Then the final paragraph.
You aren't her father, and I'm not asking you to be. But when she's with her mother, you'll become one of the adults responsible for protecting the two people I hurt most. Please do better with that responsibility than I did.
I couldn't finish without crying.
"Why are you doing this?"
Liam looked out the window.
"Because losing you didn't teach me enough."
He looked at me.
"Almost losing my relationship with Hailey did."
For the first time, I saw the man I had once hoped Liam would become.
Unfortunately, he'd become that man too late to be my husband.
May you like
But perhaps not too late to be her father.
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