Chapter 8: Leo Heard the Truth
I went home before sunrise.
Leo was waiting in the kitchen, wrapped in the old gray blanket he used after treatments.
My mother was asleep in the next room, her medication lined up beside her bed.
He looked at my face and knew something had happened.
“Mara,” he said, “what is it?”
I sat across from him and placed Arthur’s letter on the table.
My hands would not stop shaking.
“There’s something you need to know.”
He read the confession slowly.
At first, his expression did not change.
Then his eyes filled.
“So the man who ruined Mom…”
His voice broke.
“Was my father?”
I reached for his hand.
“Biologically, yes.”
Leo looked toward our mother’s bedroom.
“Did she know?”
“I don’t think she knew he confessed. But she knew enough to be hurt by him forever.”
Leo pressed the letter flat with his palm.
“I don’t want his money.”
I nodded.
“Then we won’t start with money.”
He looked at me.
“What do we start with?”
“Her name.”
Epilogue: The Name They Buried ⬇️