Chapter 203 Two Hundred & Three

Chapter 203 Two Hundred & Three
EMMA POV

The letter came on a Tuesday.

I almost didn't open it because I didn't recognize the return address.

But something made me look at it more closely. The handwriting was neat. You could tell that someone had spent time writing this letter.

The return address was for a rehab facility.

My stomach dropped.

I opened it slowly.

"Dear friend," it started. It’s me, Mia. I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from. I wouldn't blame you if you threw this letter away right now."

I kept reading.

"But I'm writing to ask if you'd be willing to visit me. I'm in rehab. I've been here for eight years now. I'm doing well. I'm working through my trauma and the things I did to hurt you. And I want to apologize. I would have come to you, but I can’t leave yet. If it’s okay for you to come see me.”

The letter went on. She talked about her journey in rehab. About recognizing that she'd been manipulated by her father. About understanding that what she'd done to me was inexcusable.

"I don't expect forgiveness," she wrote. "I just want you to know that I'm sorry. That I've worked hard to become a better person. And that I think about what I did to you every single day."

The letter was signed "Mia. Not the girl who hurt you. But someone trying to be better."

I sat on the couch and just held the letter.

Mia.

I hadn't thought about Mia in years. Not really.

After everything that happened, after the trial, she'd been sent to a court-ordered rehab facility.

I'd heard she was doing okay. But I hadn't checked on her. I hadn't wanted to know.

She'd tried to hurt me. She'd been part of Grey's plan to kill me. Why would I care how she was doing?

But now that I was holding this letter, I realized I did care. She had been my friend for so long in college, and a part of me still feels hurt and angry for what she did. And I haven’t thought about a redemption for her.

I sat there with the letter for more than an hour until Ryan came back and showed him the letter.

He read it carefully.

"What do you want to do?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said. "She hurt me, Ryan. She tried to help kill me."

"Yeah. And I'm also the reason Mia was the way she was and am sorry that she hurt you badly. He said gently. "I know that's hard to think about. But Mia's dad was as bad as mine.”

"That doesn't excuse what she did," I said.

"No, my love," he said. "It doesn't. But I think it’s time you let it go; it's been years. It’s time you seek peace for it. But the choice is yours still ”

He was quiet for a moment.

"Do you want to see her?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said again.

"Then think about it," he said. "Take your time. But if you do want to go, I think you should. I think it might be good for both of you."

I thought about it for three days.

I looked at the letter over and over.

I imagined what Mia looked like now. What she'd become in eight years of rehab.

On day four, I called the rehab facility.

They connected me with Mia's counselor, who told me that Mia had been doing excellent work.

That she was genuinely trying to heal. That she'd been attending support groups and therapy. That she'd asked if I could ever visit.

I made an appointment for Saturday.

The drive to the facility took six hours.

I spent the entire drive trying not to panic.

What if I got there and didn't know what to say?

What if she wasn't actually sorry?

What if this was a trap?

No, that was ridiculous. This was a rehab facility. They fix crazy people in there. But my trauma brain didn't care about logic.

The facility was nice, quiet, and peaceful. A woman met me in the lobby.

She was tall and thin and had Mia's face.

But she wasn't the girl I remembered.

The girl I remembered had been angry, defensive, and mean.

This woman looked skinny, peaceful, her eyes sad

"Emma?" she said softly.

"Mia," I said.

"Thank you for coming," she said. "I wasn't sure you would. When I heard you agreed, I decided to wait here every day till you show up.”

"I almost didn't," I said honestly.

They let us sit in a garden area outside.

Mia sat across from me on a bench.

"I don't even know where to start," she said. "I have so much I want to say to you."

"Start wherever you want," I said.

She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I'm sorry for being part of the plan to hurt you. I'm sorry for thinking that was okay. I'm sorry for everything."

I didn't say anything.

"I was so angry," she continued. "I was angry at my Ryan. I was angry at myself. I was angry at the world. And I took it out on you. And that was wrong."

She was crying now.

"I've spent eight years in therapy trying to understand why I did what I did," she said. "And the truth is, I was broken. My dad broke me. He made me think that hurting people was okay. That revenge was okay. And Ryan, who was my only source of comfort, left me for you. I couldn’t take and I did bad things.”

She wiped at her eyes.

"It wasn't okay," she said. "And I was wrong. And I've been carrying that guilt every single day."

I stared at her, my heartbreaking in pieces. I couldn’t stay mad at her. I just couldn’t seeing her broken she was.