Ryan recognized the man beside Iris’s mother as his late father, Daniel. He was Iris’s father, too: the teenagers who had attended prom together were half-siblings. For eighteen years, Iris had believed Daniel never wanted her. Her mother had believed a rejection letter, unaware that her own father had forged it. Daniel’s surviving letters revealed something heartbreakingly different: he had wanted his daughter, searched for her, and died without meeting her.
The discovery left Iris grieving a father she had never known and questioning the mother she trusted. Healing came slowly, through Daniel’s words, conversations with Ryan, and visits to their father’s grave. Together, the siblings planted a flowering tree in his memory. Eventually, Iris offered her mother forgiveness—not because the hurt had disappeared, but because she wanted honesty to guide their future. Daniel’s letters remained within reach, no longer hidden, reminding Iris that she had always been loved.
