Chapter 3 - THE LETTERS SHE NEVER MENTIONED
Kira had found the letters thirty-one days before the wedding.
She hadn't been searching for them.
She was looking for the property documents Blake had promised to bring to their mortgage appointment.
The desk drawer stuck.
She pulled harder.
A wooden box slid forward.
Inside were letters tied with blue ribbon.
Riley's handwriting covered every envelope.
Kira recognized it immediately.
She should have closed the box.
She knew that.
But one envelope had fallen open.
The first line caught her eye.
Blake, I know you say you love Kira, but sometimes I think you and I are the story that never got its ending.
Kira sat down.
Her hands went cold.
She read another.
You know I'll always be your girl, even if somebody else gets the ring.
Another.
I don't think Kira understands what we have. She didn't know us before everything went wrong.
The most recent letter was dated six weeks earlier.
If you marry her, promise me I won't lose you.
Beneath it was Blake's reply.
Only three lines.
You'll never lose me, Ri.
Some things don't change.
I promise.
Kira stared at those words for a long time.
Then she carefully returned every letter to the box.
She didn't confront him.
Not because she didn't care.
Because she already knew what he would say.
Riley's been through so much.
You're misunderstanding.
Don't make this ugly.
Kira had heard those sentences for three years.
She was tired of being told that her pain was less important because she expressed it quietly.
That evening, she called Sarah.
“I think I'm making a mistake,” she whispered.
May you like
Sarah didn't ask which mistake.
She already knew.
