“Then why didn’t you tell me you were looking for it?”
“Because I didn’t know your mother had it. I had searched for years, but I had no idea the original correspondence still existed.”
My mother shook her head.
“You didn’t come back only for the documents, Daniel. You came back because you wanted to know whether I still loved you.”
He looked at her.
“And you did.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I did. But loving you doesn’t excuse what we did to Claire.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Daniel reached toward the letter.
I pulled it away.
“No.”
“Claire, that document could clear my father’s name.”
“And it should. But you don’t get to use me to obtain it, and you don’t get to decide what happens to it now.”
I folded the letter carefully and placed it back inside the envelope.
“I will have it examined by an independent lawyer. If it is authentic, the truth deserves to come out. Your father’s name deserves to be cleared, and anyone responsible for falsifying those records should be held accountable.”
