Chapter 9 - Hunter’s Last Letter
Hunter was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution. Before beginning his sentence, he sent one final letter through Camille.
This one was different.
No excuses.
No blame.
Selena, I have spent months trying to identify the exact moment I became the man who held you in that kitchen. I wanted there to be one. There wasn’t. It happened through hundreds of smaller choices. Every time I treated your independence like rejection. Every time I resented your success instead of confronting my insecurity. Every time I allowed my mother to validate the worst part of me. None of that excuses what I did.
I stopped reading.
Then continued.
I loved you. That may be the ugliest truth because it proves love alone does not make someone safe. I hope someday the memory of me becomes small enough that it no longer takes up space you need for better things.
I folded the letter.
For once, Hunter had written something true.
May you like
I did not respond.
Some endings did not need conversation.
