Dad Rejected Me, Mom Was a Star

Chapter 5

Dear Asher,

By the time you read this, I'll already be gone.

I'm sorry I had to tell you the truth this way.

Everything I said to you six years ago, the cruel words, the five million dollars I demanded, none of it was by choice.

You'd just forced Caleb Hale's company into bankruptcy. He hated you with every fiber of his being, and he wanted to make you feel the same searing pain he was feeling.

He knew he couldn't get to you directly. You had too many guards, too many people watching your back.

So he went after my mother.

She'd come to bring me homemade soup. They grabbed her right outside our apartment building.

He said if I didn't do exactly what he told me, he'd kill my mother. And then he'd come for you next.

I saw my mother through the dirty window of the warehouse where they were holding her.

She was crying so hard she could barely breathe.

Caleb handed me a phone and told me exactly what to say.

He said I had to make you hate me completely. Make you believe I only cared about your money.

That way, you wouldn't come looking for me, and he'd take the money and leave forever.

Asher, every word I said to you that day sliced through my soul like a knife.

I told you I'd never loved you, that I'd only been with you for your money and power, that I was tired of dealing with your enemies.

You, who never cried in all the years I knew you, begged me not to leave. Your voice was so broken I could barely stand it.

When I hung up the phone, I collapsed on the floor and sobbed.

He warned me that if I ever told you the truth, he'd find us no matter where we ran.

When my mother was finally released, she was a broken woman. Her health never recovered.

She got down on her knees and begged me never to contact you again.

She said she couldn't bear to lose me, too.

So I promised her.

But I didn't know then that I was already pregnant with Stella.

I thought about telling you a hundred times.

But my mother threatened to kill herself if I did, and I was still terrified of Caleb's threats.

I took what little savings I had and moved to a small town far away.

I thought I'd wait until the baby was born, until things calmed down...

But Caleb's shadow never left me.

I was always looking over my shoulder, waiting for him to find us.

These past six years have been hard.

I don't have many skills, and raising a child alone is expensive. We barely scraped by.

Stella was such a good baby. She never cried for toys or new clothes.

But it broke my heart every time I thought about what you'd said, that our daughter would be the happiest little princess in the world.

When I was diagnosed with stomach cancer three years ago, my first thought was, at least Stella's old enough to remember me.

The surgery would cost a fortune. The chemotherapy even more.

I didn't have that kind of money.

So I started asking you for money, using every excuse I could think of.

I wanted to live.

Just one more year. One more month. One more day.

I wanted to watch Stella grow up a little more.

But the doctors kept telling me the same thing.

The money would be wasted on me. It would be like throwing gold into a bottomless pit.

So I saved every penny you sent me. I put it all in a bank account under Stella's name.

I know it's not enough to make her rich.

But it's enough to give her a start, to make sure she doesn't end up on the streets after I'm gone.

The last few months were so painful I could barely breathe.

But the worst part was watching Stella worry about me.

She's so small, but so brave.

I don't have the strength to write anymore.

Asher, if you're reading this, please. I'm begging you.

Take care of our daughter.

Stella is yours. Look into her eyes. They're exactly like yours.

Not a single day has passed in these six years that I haven't missed you.

I'm sorry I couldn't be with you until the end.

But I never regretted loving you.

And I never regretted having Stella.

Be happy, Asher.

Live for both of us.

Dad stood there completely still, holding the letter in his hands.

His eyes were red, so red it looked like they were bleeding.

Vera walked over and put a hand on his arm.

"What is this? Don't tell me you actually believe this child."

"Get out."

"What?"

"I said, get out. Now."

Vera stepped back, startled by the raw, unbridled anger in his voice.

"Asher, calm down. This is obviously fake. Anyone can copy handwriting, and this story is too ridiculous to be true..."