Chapter 25 - The Weight of an Apology
A heavy manila envelope arrived at Sienna’s office via the prison legal mail system, bearing a crude, smudged return address. She stared at it on her marble desk for a long moment before using a letter opener to slice it open. Inside was a single sheet of cheap lined paper, filled with cramped, messy handwriting. It was a letter from Derek—not asking for money or mercy, but awkwardly stumbling through an admission of his own profound emptiness. Sienna read the words once, feeling neither anger nor pity, only the quiet numbness of a chapter finally closed. She folded the paper, dropped it directly into the shredder, and watched the machine reduce his final, belated confession to dust.
