It turned out that money really had gone missing and that there had been suspicious transfers.
But I didn’t storm over to Richard’s house to scream at him or seek revenge.
I let the lawyers handle it.
And during that time, I thought about Linda every single day.
About a month later, I returned to her house.
She opened the door and stared at me in surprise.
I was holding the same old photograph.
“Jason…”
“I still haven’t completely forgiven you.”
She nodded.
“I understand.”
“And I can’t pretend that keeping this secret for six months doesn’t matter.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
I held out the photograph to her.
“But if we ever try again,urm this time you don’t hide anything from me.”
She looked at me.
“Nothing.”
I had already turned to leave when Linda spoke again.
“There’s one more thing.”
I stopped.
“Your father told me something before he died.”
“What?”
Her eyes filled with tears again.
“He said, ‘Don’t try to tell Jason what kind of man he should become. Just give him the truth. He’ll decide the rest for himself.’”
That evening, I went home with my father’s letter in my pocket.
Before finding that photograph, I thought the biggest question in my life was whether Linda and I had a future together.
But afterward, I realized the real question was something completely different.
Can you ever trust someone again after discovering that they originally entered your life for a secret reason…
if somewhere along the way, their feelings became real?
