Chapter 6 - The Letter From a Dead MotherWilla had not opened the letter.
That surprised Alistair.
“Why not?”
She looked offended.
“It wasn't mine yet.”
“What does that mean?”
“It said TO WILLA — WHEN YOU TURN TWELVE.”
Her twelfth birthday was four months away.
Alistair's throat tightened.
He knew Elise had written letters.
During the last months of her illness, she'd made boxes.
Birthday notes.
Graduation letters.
One for Theo's first date.
One for Willa's first heartbreak.
Elise had laughed while labeling them.
“If I’m going to miss everything, I’m at least going to be annoying from beyond the grave.”
Alistair had cried.
Elise had told him not to.
After she died, Beatrice helped store the boxes in the family safe.
Then Alistair remarried Corinne two years later.
He assumed the letters remained untouched.
“Why would Corinne have one?”
Willa shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Where is it now?”
“In her purse, I guess.”
Police had taken possession of several items from the house.
Alistair called Detective Brennan immediately.
Within an hour, she confirmed an envelope had been found inside Corinne's handbag.
It was released to Alistair after being photographed and logged because it appeared to belong to Willa.
He held it without opening.
Elise's handwriting.
WILLA — AGE 12.
Willa touched the envelope.
“Can I read it?”
Alistair swallowed.
“You're not twelve.”
She gave him a look.
“Dad.”
He almost smiled.
“Your mom would absolutely blame me.”
“She can't.”
“That has never stopped her.”
For the first time in days, Willa laughed.
It nearly destroyed him.
He handed her the envelope.
“Your choice.”
Willa opened it carefully.
The letter began lightly.
My fierce girl,
If your father gave this to you on the correct birthday, please congratulate him because calendars are not his natural gift.
Willa laughed through tears.
Alistair covered his eyes.
“That woman.”
Willa continued reading silently.
Then her smile disappeared.
“What?”
She looked up.
“Mom wrote about Corinne.”
Alistair went still.
“What?”
Willa handed him the page.
The sentence was halfway down.
There may be people in your father's life someday who love him very much and still feel threatened by the fact that he loved me first. That is not your problem to solve.
Alistair stared.
Elise had not known Corinne romantically.
Not really.
Corinne had been part of the wider social circle.
She had attended charity dinners.
Seen Elise a handful of times.
But the letter wasn't specifically about her.
It was about whoever came next.
Willa continued:
You never have to erase me to make someone else comfortable. You are allowed to love a stepmother, another mother figure, or anyone who treats you with kindness. Love is not replacement.
Willa's lips trembled.
“Corinne told me Mom would hate me if I liked her.”
Alistair closed his eyes.
There it was.
Another cruelty.
Corinne had taken the very thing Elise tried to prevent and reversed it.
Willa read the final part aloud.
If anyone ever asks you to choose between remembering me and loving them, choose the person who doesn't make you choose.
Silence filled the room.
Alistair couldn't speak.
Willa folded the letter.
“Why did Corinne take it?”
“I don't know.”
But he had a theory.
Control.
Elise remained present through photographs, stories, letters.
Corinne could never compete with a dead woman because the competition existed only in her head.
Rachel arrived with another discovery.
“Corinne removed more than one letter.”
Alistair looked up.
“How many?”
“Police found four envelopes.”
One for Willa.
Two for Theo.
One addressed to Alistair.
His chest tightened.
“When was mine supposed to be opened?”
Rachel handed it over.
ALISTAIR — IF YOU EVER REMARRY.
He stopped breathing.
He had never seen it.
The envelope should have been given to him years earlier.
Before Corinne.
He looked toward Beatrice, who had arrived moments earlier.
She covered her mouth.
“I forgot that one.”
Alistair stared.
“What?”
“Elise gave it to me separately.”
“Why?”
“She said you would avoid that box if it made you sad.”
That sounded exactly like Elise.
Beatrice began crying.
“After she died, I put it in the safe with the others. I thought you'd find it.”
“I didn't.”
“Corinne must have.”
Alistair opened the letter.
His hands trembled.
Ali,
If you're reading this, first: I hope she's wonderful.
He laughed painfully.
Elise continued.
Do not spend the rest of your life feeling guilty for surviving me. If you love someone, love her properly. Don't compare her to me. Don't make the children compare her to me either.
Then came the sentence Corinne must have hated.
But loving someone properly also means requiring her to love our children without asking them to become different children first.
Alistair stopped.
Willa watched him.
He continued.
If she resents them because they carry pieces of me, do not tell yourself time will fix it. Your job is not to make the new marriage work at any cost. Your job is to make sure Willa and Theo always know home is where they are safest.
Alistair lowered the letter.
He couldn't breathe.
Because that was exactly what he had done.
He had told himself time would fix things.
Corinne needed time to adjust.
The children needed time.
Everyone needed patience.
He had prioritized making the second marriage work.
Elise, dying, had predicted his weakness more clearly than he had.
Willa sat beside him.
“Dad?”
He covered his face.
“I failed you.”
Willa immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You didn't know.”
“I didn't want to know.”
That distinction mattered.
He had seen enough to ask better questions.
He hadn't.
Willa took his hand.
“Now you know.”
Alistair looked at his daughter.
Children shouldn't have to comfort parents for failing them.
He squeezed her hand.
“Now I do.”
That afternoon, Detective Brennan called.
They had found Corinne's deleted browser history.
Searches about Stone Ridge.
Emergency guardianship.
Residential placement.
Transport services.
But one search did not fit.
HOW TO REMOVE A TRUSTEE FROM CHILDREN'S INHERITANCE.
Alistair stared at the screen.
May you like
The plan wasn't only about getting Theo and Willa out of the house.
Corinne had been researching how to get Alistair removed from control of their money.
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