Chapter 5

Brenda appealed. Twice. Both denied.

She wrote letters. To me. To Emma. To Sophia. I didn't open them. The girls didn't want to. We put them in a drawer. Unopened. Unread. Unanswered.

Jake — Brenda's son — he got in trouble. A lot. He was angry. Lost. He'd been raised by Brenda. He'd learned cruelty. He'd been expelled from two schools. His father didn't want him. He ended up in juvenile detention.

Emma asked about him once. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

I didn't know. I hoped so. I paid for a lawyer. For therapy. For a good program. I didn't have to. He wasn't my son. But he was a kid. A kid who'd been failed. By his mother. By his father. By me, when I didn't see what was happening under my own roof.

I got a letter from him once. From juvie.

Mr. Alexander, it said. I'm sorry. For everything. For laughing. For not helping. I didn't know. I thought it was normal. I'm sorry.

I wrote back. Short. Kind. I told him everyone deserves a second chance. That I'd help him. That when he got out, there was a job waiting for him at my company — in the mailroom, starting at the bottom, if he wanted it. If he earned it.

He wrote back. Just two words. Thank you.

He got out two years later. He took the job. He worked hard. He went to community college at night. He changed. Slowly. He apologized to Emma. She accepted. Not with a hug. Not with forgiveness. But with — acknowledgment. "You're trying," she said. "That's enough for now."

He cried. I did too.

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Sophia — she thrived. She was smart. Funny. Kind. She started a club at school — for kids who'd been bullied. For kids who didn't fit in. She was the most popular girl in her grade, not because she was pretty or rich, but because she was kind. Because she knew what it felt like to be on the outside.

Emma — she was an artist. She painted. She drew. She won awards. Her art was dark at first — black, gray, shadows. Then slowly, color came. Blue. Yellow. Pink. Her paintings hung in galleries. In our house. In the foundation's office. She was — brilliant. And happy.