Chapter 21
Part 22: The Letter Nobody Wanted to Read
The investigators retrieved Claire's letter.
The envelope was sealed.
Sofia opened it alone in Evelyn's office.
Inside was one sheet of paper.
Adrian,
You spent your life believing Father owed you a place beside him.
Perhaps he did.
But he never owed you the lives of other people.
You were my brother before you became my enemy.
There was a time when you were kind.
I remember a boy who helped me rescue an injured bird from the palace greenhouse.
I remember him holding it gently and crying when it died.
I do not know where that boy went.
I hope, someday, you find him again.
Claire.
Sofia folded the letter carefully.
There was no declaration of forgiveness.
No absolution.
Only the memory of a child who had once known tenderness.
She understood why Vale hadn't opened it.
It forced him to remember that he hadn't always been the man who killed Jonathan Reed and destroyed Claire's life.
Evelyn entered.
"Are you ready?"
Sofia nodded.
The Supreme Constitutional Court had scheduled an emergency hearing.
Evidence of her lineage would be examined.
The financial trust would be frozen.
The allegations against Gabriel, Madeleine, and Adrian Vale would move into separate criminal proceedings.
The public had begun demanding an independent commission into the monarchy's future.
May you like
Sofia placed Claire's letter inside her bag.
"Let's go."
