CHAPTER

15

June 5, 2024

Diary entry

I DIDNT THINK I would write to you again after August 2004, but something happened, and I have no one in whom I can confide.

The social worker who arranged baby Mirella’s adoption wrote me a letter. Mirella wants to reunite with her biological mother. The question is: Am I willing to meet? My heart nearly stopped, and I pressed the letter to my cheek. Then I closed my eyes and inhaled, imagining the scent of a baby’s talcumed skin.

Louisa always got what she wanted. It’s something I both admired and hated about her. I’m still ashamed I couldn’t stand up to her. She might still be alive if I had.

A hundred questions raced through my mind as I read the letter. Questions that will forever remain unanswered if I have any say in the matter. There is nothing to be gained by a reunion and everything to lose.

I must protect the others.