“What is this?” I asked.
Mrs. Johnson wiped tears from her face.
“Arthur, she did not leave because she stopped loving you or Leo.”
I stared at her.
“She made me promise not to give you that letter until Leo turned 18.”
My hands began shaking as I opened the envelope.
Then I read the letter aloud.
“Arthur,
“If you are reading this, it means I never had the chance to tell you the truth myself.
“A few days before our son was born, I was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. The doctors told me there was almost no hope.
“I knew you would never leave me.
“I knew you would spend every dollar, every hour, and every part of yourself trying to save me while also raising our son.
“I could not allow you to lose both your wife and your son’s childhood.
“So I made the cruelest choice of my life.
“I allowed you to believe I was the villain.
“I asked for a divorce because I knew that if you believed I had betrayed you, you would stop searching for me and give all your love and strength to our son.
“I never stopped loving either of you.
“I simply believed this was the only way to give you both the life you deserved.
“I left this letter with Mrs. Johnson and made her promise to hide it until our son’s 18th birthday.
“I wanted him to be old enough to decide for himself what kind of woman I was.
“I do not know whether you will ever forgive me. Perhaps you should not.
“But I need you to believe one thing.
“I did not leave because I did not love you or our son.
“I loved you both enough to let you hate me.
“Goldi.”
By the time I reached the final line, tears blurred the page.
Leo sat completely still across from me.
“She was my mother?” he whispered.
I turned toward Mrs. Johnson.
“How much did you know?”
“She came to me the night before she left,” she explained. “She showed me a letter from her doctor. The cancer had already spread.”
“You knew she was sick for 18 years?”
