Money doesn’t fill the void. Lies don’t protect you. Manipulation doesn’t make you safe.
The only thing that matters—the only thing that has ever mattered—is whether you loved and were loved in return.
I wasn’t. Because I didn’t let myself be.
That shoebox was Eleanor’s final gift. Not the house or the money or the cars. Those were just things. The real gift was the truth. The truth about who I was, who I could have been, and who I still have time to become.
I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself. But I know I’ll never lie again.
Not like that.
Not to someone who deserves better.
