Chapter 2: The Letter He Left Behind
**PART 2**
I couldn't move.
My hand was still gripping the doorframe when Chloe held out the paper.
"Please," she said quietly.
"You need to read this."
It was a letter.
Julian's handwriting.
My legs almost gave out.
I stepped back to let them in.
Nora stayed close to her mother, watching me with those big, careful eyes.
I couldn't look at her for long.
I unfolded the letter.
The date at the top stopped me cold.
He had written it three weeks before the surgery.
*"Mom will never understand if I tell her.
She'll try to stop me.
But I have to do this.
Nora deserves to live.
And after what I found out last year — I can't walk away."*
I looked up at Chloe.
"What did he find out?"
She pressed her lips together.
Her eyes filled.
"Julian knew something about Nora that no one else knew.
Something he never told you." She paused.
"Something that changes everything about why he did this."
My throat tightened.
"Tell me."
Chloe reached into her bag and pulled out a second envelope.
Thicker.
Sealed.
"He left this for you," she whispered.
"He made me promise to give it to you only after…" She couldn't finish.
My hands were shaking as I reached for it.
Then Nora tugged her mother's sleeve and said four words so softly I almost missed them.
May you like
*"Mommy.
Should we tell her?"*
