Ch. 13: The Price of Silence

The letter had arrived without a name, and that was the first thing that frightened her.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Ela said. "I'm asking you to listen." She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all.

Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. Ela crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to.

The truth, when it finally came, was smaller and sharper than she had imagined.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Ela said. "I'm asking you to listen." Ela crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Ela said. "I'm asking you to listen."

The door closed softly, but the sound of it stayed with her for a long time.