I had the card in my bag, still unopened, still holding the mystery of my father’s past. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my father had known something I didn’t—something he had tried to protect me from. He had kept secrets from me, but now those secrets were mine to uncover.
The question was, what did I do with this knowledge? Did I step into the world my father had left behind, or did I walk away from it all, pretending I hadn’t learned the truth?
I thought about Ryan. I thought about the life we had built, the years I had spent supporting him, keeping his life running smoothly while he focused on his career. Now, everything was in ruins. The marriage, the house, the future I had imagined—it was all gone. And yet, I couldn’t stop thinking about the life I could have if I took my father’s legacy seriously.
I had nothing left in my old life. No friends who could understand, no family to turn to. And Ryan, well—he had made it clear that I wasn’t wanted anymore. So, what choice did I really have?