Shredded ties on the floor | Source: Midjourney
My darling, my heart ached every day I pretended not to see you, not to love you with the openness you deserved. But it was necessary. You were my last hope. My only hope for true freedom. The inheritance they received isn’t a gift; it’s a lifelong burden, a perpetual payment to keep the darkest secrets buried, to keep them contained. I sacrificed my life, my happiness, my very soul, to shield you from the truth, to give you a chance at a real life, one free from their shadow. Please, forgive me for the pain I caused you. It was the only way to save you.
My hands flew to my mouth, a choked gasp escaping my lips. ALL THOSE YEARS. All my envy, my bitter resentment, my feeling of being less than. It was never about their brilliance. It was about their cruelty. Their CAPACITY FOR EVIL. My grandparent hadn’t been favoring them; they had been managing them, controlling them, buying their silence and containing their destructive impulses.
A woman standing in her stepdaughter’s room | Source: Midjourney
A woman standing in her stepdaughter’s room | Source: Midjourney
And I? I had been protected. Sacrificed for. Kept safe in the shadow, unknowingly. The sting of being overlooked, of receiving only a “sentimental” music box – it was a shield. The greatest act of love my grandparent could have given me. My insignificant inheritance was a gift beyond measure. It was freedom. It was a warning. It was the truth.
I looked at the music box, no longer a trivial trinket, but a heavy, pulsating testament to a lifetime of silent suffering and unspeakable sacrifice. My grandparent had lived a lie, suppressing their true feelings, bearing an unimaginable burden, all to keep me safe. To keep me out.
Tears in a woman’s eyes | Source: Midjourney
Continue reading…
