Chapter 37. Tell Me More

CHARLOTTE

The teddy’s arms were soaked with my tears.

My sobs had quieted into tiny hiccups, but my chest still trembled with the weight of it all. I stayed like that for a while, curled into the plush teddy bear.

I stared at the card again, then got up and took it. I reread every line as my fingers traced his handwriting, and I could almost hear his voice in my head saying them out loud to me.

I sniffled and wiped my face with the sleeve of my shirt.

I have to talk to him. Before I leave tomorrow.

He deserved that much.

I hadn’t been fair to him. I’d pushed him, shut him out, questioned every kind thing he did as if it was a trap. And maybe it was—maybe all this was too good to be true. But I didn’t care anymore. No one—no one—had ever tried this hard to show me I mattered.

Not even my own family.

Even if he was lying, I still wanted to believe. Just once. Before I disappeared from his life tomorrow like I’d never existed.