The letter was typed.
Dear Maelis,
Lorna has decided that reopening contact would only cause more pain. Please respect her wishes. Do not write again.
A.V.
My initials.
A.V.
But I had never written it.
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
“This isn’t mine.”
Maeve’s face hardened.
“Your initials are there.”
“I did not write this.”
She leaned back.
“Convenient.”
“No.”
I looked at the page.
The paper bore an old Mercer & Field corporate letterhead.
That meant access.
Anyone in our executive office could have produced it.
“Did your mother believe this came from me?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ever show it to anyone?”
“Me.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
My mind moved backward.
Thirty-three years.
Who had motive?
Who knew the family fracture?
Who wanted Maelis kept away?
Then I remembered someone.
Lorna’s mother.
Evelyn Venn.
She had hated the scandal.
Not because Maelis did anything criminal.
Because the newspapers mentioned the family.
Evelyn believed reputational damage was worse than almost any private pain.
She spent years blaming Maelis.
Lorna fought with her about it.
But Evelyn had access to our executive office through Lorna.
Had access to letterhead.
Knew my initials.
Would absolutely have believed she was “protecting” Lorna.
But Evelyn had been gone twenty-one years.
No confrontation possible.
