Chapter 17 - The Letter to Sofía
Several weeks later, an envelope arrived.
Vanessa had written Sofía’s name on the front.
Roberto stared at it for a long time.
He took it to Dr. Brooks before making any decision.
“Do I give this to her?”
“Eventually, perhaps.”
“She asked not to see Vanessa.”
“A letter is different.”
“It can still hurt her.”
“Yes.”
Dr. Brooks looked at him carefully.
“You cannot protect Sofía by deciding forever what she is allowed to know.”
Roberto disliked the answer.
That was how he knew it mattered.
They asked Sofía.
She touched the envelope.
“Did Vanessa write it?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what it says?”
“No.”
“Can you read it first?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me if it’s mean.”
Roberto opened it privately.
Vanessa apologized.
Sort of.
She wrote that she had been overwhelmed.
That Roberto’s absence placed unfair pressure on her.
That Sofía’s needs were difficult.
That María encouraged dependence.
Then came one sentence that made Roberto stop.
I hope someday you understand that everything I did was meant to prepare you for a world that will not always be gentle.
Roberto folded the letter.
Dr. Brooks asked what he thought.
“She still thinks she was right.”
“Yes.”
“What do I tell Sofía?”
“The truth.”
So he did.
They sat together in the music room.
“Vanessa says she is sorry you were hurt.”
Sofía waited.
“She also says she believed she was making you stronger.”
Sofía frowned.
“Was she?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Roberto thought carefully.
“Because making someone stronger does not require making them afraid of you.”
Sofía became quiet.
“Did she say she misses me?”
Roberto looked at the letter.
“Yes.”
Sofía hugged her rabbit.
“I don’t miss her.”
“That’s okay.”
“Is that mean?”
“No.”
She leaned against him.
“I miss when I thought she was nice.”
Roberto felt something painful and beautiful in the sentence.
Sofía was not mourning Vanessa.
She was mourning the illusion.
Roberto understood that kind of grief very well.
He had loved the same illusion.
That night, Sofía asked him to keep the letter.
“Maybe I’ll read it when I’m older.”
Roberto placed it in a sealed box.
Not hidden.
Not destroyed.
Waiting for the day she chose for herself.
May you like
That choice mattered.
Because for too long, Vanessa had made choices for her.
