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Chapter 6 - THE WAKE-UP CALL

Four months later, I received a letter. No return address. Just a postmark from a small town in Colorado. Inside was a single photo: Clara, sitting in a field of wildflowers, her hair a little longer, her eyes bright and healthy. On the back, in Elise’s handwriting: She is safe. We are happy. Do not force me to change her name.

The relief was so profound I wept. She wasn't dead. She wasn't suffering. She was living the life she deserved, free from the man who had failed her so spectacularly.

I realized then that my pursuit of her was an act of selfishness. I wanted her back to soothe my own conscience. I wanted to see her to prove to myself that I wasn't as bad as I thought. But she didn't owe me my peace of mind. She had won her freedom, and I had no right to take it back.

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