Lennox led me to his room. He pushed the door open and stepped aside, letting me go in first. I was nervous. My steps were slow and unsure. I had no idea what he was about to show me, but I could feel it was going to be something big.
I turned just in time to see him walk in after me and close the door gently behind us.
He didn't say a word. He didn't even look at me. He just walked across the room, not to the usual safe—the one where he kept my father's papers—but to a different part of the room. He stopped in front of a painting on the wall and slid it aside, revealing another safe hidden behind it.
This safe looked newer. More private.
He typed in a code, his fingers moving with practiced ease. I heard the low beep, then the mechanical click as the safe unlocked.
He opened it, and after a moment of stillness, he reached inside and pulled out a thick, sealed envelope. It looked old. Handled. Important. He stared at it for a second too long, as if whatever it contained was too heavy to hand over.
Then, silently, he turned around and extended it toward me.
"Take it," he said, his voice low.
I hesitated before walking closer. When I was finally close enough, I reached out and took the envelope from his hand, brushing my fingers against his.
"What's inside?" I asked in a small voice.
Lennox sighed. "I never wanted anyone to see it," he said in a low voice, but I could feel his pain… I could feel the hurt in his voice.
"I don't know why I'm showing this to you," he said, and I swallowed hard. What could really be inside here? What did I really do without knowing? Did I hurt him and his brothers without knowing? At that moment, I searched my memory, but I can't remember doing anything to amount to such level of hate for me.
"What is in here?" I asked again while trying my best not to come out of my act. I still remember that I have to pretend I have memory loss.
He looked at me with a hard expression. "Proof," he said. "Of what happened. Of what she did to me… proof of why I hated her."
I swallowed hard and looked down at the envelope in my hand. It felt heavy.
"Open it," he said again.
And with trembling fingers, I started to tear it open.
When I opened the envelope, I took out the first content and my breath hitched. It was a necklace—a necklace Lennox had gotten for me on my eleventh birthday. This necklace went missing after my fourteenth birthday… I searched everywhere, but it vanished. So how did Lennox end up with it?I wanted to ask Lennox how he got back this necklace, but I held back and simply said, "This is beautiful. Was this hers?" I asked reluctantly.
Lennox hesitated for a moment before he nodded, his eyes fixed on the gold necklace in my hand. "It was a gift I gave to her on her eleventh birthday, but she returned it to me," he said, and my eyes widened. What does he mean that I returned it to him? I never did! I lost this!
I wish I could say it to him, but I held back myself.
Getting more curious and eager, I went for the next item in the envelope. With shaky fingers, I reached into the envelope again, still holding the necklace in my other hand. My heart beat faster, like it already knew what was coming next.
I pulled out a folded piece of paper—slightly yellowed, carefully kept, like something precious. My eyes flicked up to Lennox, and for the first time since I opened the envelope, I saw something shift in his expression. He drew in a slow, deep breath. His jaw tensed.
"That's the letter I wrote to her," he said softly, almost like he was talking to a ghost.
I looked down at the paper and slowly opened it. The handwriting was undoubtedly his.
The first words nearly knocked the air out of my chest:
HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY, OLI.
I TOLD MYSELF I WOULDN'T WRITE THIS. THAT I WOULD STAY IN MY PLACE. THAT I'D JUST BE THE PROTECTIVE OLDER BROTHER FIGURE I PROMISED MYSELF I'D BE THE DAY I FIRST HELD YOU AS A PUP AND YOU CLUNG TO MY SHIRT LIKE I WAS YOUR WHOLE WORLD. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel•fire.net
BUT I'VE FAILED MISERABLY AT STAYING IN MY PLACE.
I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHEN IT HAPPENED—WHEN YOU STOPPED BEING THE GIRL I PROTECTED AND BECAME THE GIRL I WATCHED FROM A DISTANCE, TERRIFIED OF WHAT I FELT. I FOUGHT IT. SPIRITS, I FOUGHT IT HARDER THAN I'VE EVER FOUGHT ANYTHING. I'VE ALWAYS SHARED EVERYTHING WITH MY BROTHERS—OUR VICTORIES, OUR PAIN, OUR RESPONSIBILITIES. BUT WITH YOU… I COULDN'T. I DIDN'T WANT TO.
I HATED HOW MY CHEST BURNED WHEN YOU SMILED AT THEM LONGER THAN YOU SMILED AT ME. I HATED HOW JEALOUS I GOT WHEN THEY MADE YOU LAUGH. I HATED HOW SMALL I FELT WHEN YOU GAVE THEM YOUR ATTENTION LIKE IT DIDN'T COST YOU A THING—BECAUSE FOR ME, EVEN A SECOND OF YOUR GAZE FELT LIKE EVERYTHING.
I DIDN'T WANT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU. BUT I DID.
AND I DON'T EXPECT ANYTHING IN RETURN. I KNOW I'M OLDER. I KNOW THIS IS TOO MUCH. YOU'RE JUST FOURTEEN. YOU PROBABLY DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SAYING. BUT THIS IS JUST ME BEING BRAVE FOR ONCE.
BUT IF YOU FEEL ANYTHING AT ALL, EVEN JUST A LITTLE… WRITE BACK. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY MUCH. JUST LET ME KNOW HOW YOU FEEL.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OLIVIA.
I HOPE TODAY, YOU FELT LOVED.
My lips parted slightly as I read the last line. I stared at it. My heart cracked a little more with each word. My hands trembled.
I looked up at him, barely able to hide the confusion from my face. "This… this was for her?" I asked, trying my best not to scream.
Knowing Lennox was in love with me was crazy. That means I wasn't the only one in love with him—with them. My feelings weren't one-sided… he also loved me… he wrote a confession letter to me.
"Yes," he said, watching me carefully. "I gave it to her on her birthday. Slipped it into a box of gifts I gave her."
My mind was racing. I never saw this letter. I never got it. I never opened this box. Who opened the box? Who had read the letter?
"She gave me a reply. It's in the envelope too."
I didn't write a reply.
How can I write a reply for a message I never received?
What the hell is happening?
Panicking, not saying a word, I reached into the envelope again.
There was another folded paper inside.
My stomach twisted as I touched it. Something wasn't right.
But I had to see what it said.
I had to know what I supposedly wrote.