She was shocked when she opened the envelope and saw that it was written in a familiar hand. It had been years since she even thought of his name. Mark, once her best friend, walked out on their friendship twenty years ago.
‘Anything important?’ My daughter asked.
‘Just bills,’ I said.
Lying didn’t come naturally to me, but I needed time to think. Twenty years, one failed marriage, and a lifetime of being a single parent and I couldn’t let him ruin everything.
Alone in my front room, I finally found some courage to read the letter
Jackie,
I got your address from our old friend Geoff. He was quiet at first, but once he got talking he wouldn’t stop. How about we meet up? I’m sure we have a lot to discuss. I hear you have a grown up daughter. I would sure love to meet her.
I can’t read any more, and a blood curdling scream, inside my mind will not be silenced. I thought he was gone, a past mistake I had eliminated long ago. There is a mobile number at the bottom of the letter. I have no choice, I need to ring him.
‘Got my letter then,’ he says.
‘What do you want?’
I have always been blunt, and to the point. I’m not going to change now, even though I am terrified he will tear my new world apart.
‘What I’ve always wanted, my rightful inheritance, you were only ever the adopted child. He was my father, not yours.’
‘But you murdered him . . . ‘
‘That my dear is beside the point
