Ava’s Birthday Drawing Was Ruined While Everyone Blamed Lily — Then the Kitchen Camera Showed Who Really Scribbled Over It
Chapter 5 — Ben’s Letter
Richard retrieved the letter from his desk.
The envelope had been opened.
Claire read it.
Ben was alive.
He was forty-eight years old.
Living in Colorado.
He had a wife.
Two adult children.
And after decades of silence, he wanted to see Richard and Margaret again.
The letter was warm.
Not angry.
Ben wrote:
I don’t know whether you ever wondered what happened to me, but I never forgot the red house or the years I spent with you.
Claire felt tears forming.
Then she reached the final paragraph.
There is also something Stephen told me before he died that I think Richard deserves to know.
Claire looked at her father.
“What did he tell him?”
Richard shook his head.
“Ben wouldn’t put it in writing.”
“Did you call him?”
Richard nodded.
They spoke briefly.
Ben planned to come for Richard’s seventieth birthday.
He wanted the reunion to be a surprise for Margaret.
Claire smiled faintly.
“So he’s coming tomorrow?”
Richard’s expression changed.
“He was.”
“Was?”
Two weeks earlier, Ben suddenly canceled.
He said something had happened.
He wouldn’t explain.
Then he stopped responding to Richard’s calls.
Claire looked again at the opened envelope.
“Who else knew about this?”
Richard thought.
“Your mother.”
“Anyone else?”
He hesitated.
“Matthew.”
Claire stared at him.
Matthew knew Ben had contacted the family.
Matthew knew about the reunion.
And now Matthew had stolen the photograph showing Ben as a child.
Claire’s phone buzzed.
A message from Matthew appeared.
STOP ASKING DAD ABOUT BEN.
Then another:
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT HE WANTS.
