There’s a Phase Two?

Three years after the trial, Eleanor received a letter from Chloe.

It arrived at the foundation office in a plain envelope with a correctional facility stamp.

Eleanor nearly threw it away.

Instead, she placed it inside a drawer.

For two weeks, she ignored it.

Then one rainy evening, she opened it.

Eleanor,

I have started this letter many times, and every version sounded like another excuse.

There is no excuse.

Harrison lied to me, but I chose to believe him because his lies gave me something I wanted. I was jealous of you long before the affair began. You were more talented than I was, more respected, and more certain of your purpose. I told myself I had spent my life standing in your shadow.

Harrison noticed that resentment and fed it.

He told me you took my loyalty for granted. He said the company would collapse without him and that you were too cold to understand either of us.

I knew parts of his story were false.

I helped him anyway.

The worst thing I did was not loving your husband. It was helping him convince people that your strength was an illness. I used everything I knew about you as your friend and turned it into a weapon.

I am not asking for forgiveness.

I only want to say that I am sorry without requesting anything in return.

You once told me that the truth matters most when it costs us something.

You were right.

Chloe

Eleanor read the letter twice.

Then she placed it back in the envelope.

For several days, she considered writing a response. Every possible sentence felt inadequate.

I forgive you sounded dishonest.

I hate you was no longer true.

You hurt me could not contain the scale of what happened.

Finally, Eleanor wrote four lines.