I hid the letter and rushed to help, but when I returned, it was gone. The next morning, Matthew was distant and exhausted, and fear crept in. Had he taken it?
Was he hiding something far darker than grief? The man I trusted suddenly felt like a stranger, and I didn’t know what to believe. The answer came not from Matthew, but from Mia.
She drew a picture that chilled me—her mother in bed holding a rectangle, and a child with an X over her mouth. When I gently asked what it meant, Mia whispered that it was a secret her father told her not to share, even though it hurt her too. Holding her close, I told her that secrets that cause pain shouldn’t be kept.
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