Chapter 14 - The Final Letter
Two years after the trial, a thick brown envelope arrived at Julian’s new home from the State Department of Corrections.
Inside was an official notice informing him that Clara Sterling had passed away in prison following a sudden medical emergency. Enclosed with the notice was a sealed letter written by Clara shortly before her death, addressed to Julian.
Julian walked down to the edge of the coastal bluff, the wind blowing cool and fresh off the water. He held the unopened letter in his hand, looking at Clara's familiar, elegant handwriting on the envelope.
He didn't open it.
He knew that anything written inside that paper was just another attempt to manipulate, another ghost trying to reach out from the dark to poison his present. He didn't need her explanations, her confessions, or her apologies.
May you like
Julian pulled out a small metal lighter, flicked the flame to life, and set the edge of the envelope ablaze.
He watched as the fire consumed the paper, the black ashes drifting out over the cliff edge into the deep ocean water below. The final link to the dark night at the pool dissolved into nothingness, carried away by the sea breeze.
