Chapter Sixty-Five: The Secret Victoria Kept
Victoria had been acting strange for weeks.
Lina noticed it first. The way Victoria hesitated before answering simple questions. The way she stared out the window when she thought no one was watching. The way she flinched when the phone rang, as if she was expecting bad news.
At first, Lina thought it was stress. Victoria's job at the community mental health center was demanding. She worked with people who were struggling—with addiction, with trauma, with the weight of lives that had gone wrong. She came home tired and quiet, her eyes hollow, her smile forced.
But this was different.
This was fear.
Lina found Victoria in the garden one afternoon, sitting on the bench, staring at the flowers.
"Victoria," Lina said, sitting beside her. "What's wrong?"
Victoria did not look at her. "Nothing."
"You've been saying that for weeks. I don't believe you anymore."
Victoria was quiet for a long moment. Then she said, "I received a letter."
Lina's heart began to pound. "From who?"
Victoria reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled envelope. She handed it to Lina without a word.
Lina opened it.
Dear Victoria,
You don't know me. My name is Daniel Webb. I'm Marcus Webb's brother.
Lina's hands began to shake.
I've been following your story for years. The accident. The prison. The recovery. The woman you've become.
I'm not writing to threaten you. I'm not writing to ask for money. I'm writing because I need to understand.
My brother was not a good man. He was not a good husband. He was not a good father. He was struggling with demons that none of us knew about.
I've spent fifteen years being angry at you. Fifteen years blaming you for something that wasn't your fault.
I'm tired of being angry.
I want to meet you. I want to talk to you. I want to understand who you are and who you've become.
If you're willing, please write back.
—Daniel Webb
Lina read the letter twice.
Then she looked at Victoria.
"Marcus's brother," Lina said.
Victoria nodded. "Marcus's brother."
"What are you going to do?"
Victoria was quiet for a long moment. Then she said, "I'm going to meet him."
Lina's heart ached. "Are you sure?"
"I've spent fifteen years running from the past. I'm done running."
Lina took Victoria's hand.
"Then I'll go with you," she said. "You don't have to do this alone."
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Lina squeezed her hand.
"That's what family is for," she said.
---
The meeting was scheduled for a Saturday afternoon at a small café halfway between the city and the town where Daniel Webb lived.
Lina drove. Victoria sat in the passenger seat, her hands folded in her lap, her face pale.
"Are you okay?" Lina asked.
"No."
"Do you want to turn around?"
"No."
Lina reached over and took Victoria's hand.
"Then we keep going," she said.
Victoria nodded.
They drove on.
---
Daniel Webb was waiting for them at a table by the window.
He was a tall man, broad-shouldered, with gray hair and kind eyes. He looked nothing like his brother. Where Marcus had been sharp and angry, Daniel was soft and sad.
Victoria stopped at the doorway.
Lina put her hand on Victoria's back.
"You can do this," Lina said.
Victoria took a breath.
She walked to the table.
---
Daniel stood up when Victoria approached.
"Thank you for coming," he said.
Victoria sat down across from him. "Thank you for asking."
They looked at each other for a long moment.
"I've hated you for fifteen years," Daniel said.
Victoria nodded. "I know."
"I blamed you for my brother's death. I told myself that if you hadn't been drunk, if you hadn't been driving, he would still be alive."
Victoria was quiet.
"But I was wrong," Daniel continued. "Marcus was suffering. He had been suffering for years. He hid it from everyone—from his wife, from his children, from me. He stepped in front of your car because he wanted to die. Not because you were there. Because he couldn't live anymore."
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Daniel shook his head. "You don't have to be sorry. You were just there. You were the instrument, not the cause."
Victoria was quiet for a long moment.
"I've spent fifteen years carrying the weight of your brother's death," she said. "Fifteen years believing I was a murderer. Fifteen years punishing myself for something that wasn't entirely my fault."
Daniel nodded slowly.
"I know," he said. "I've been watching you. From a distance. I saw you get sober. I saw you go back to school. I saw you become a social worker. I saw you help people the way you wished someone had helped my brother."
Victoria's tears spilled over.
"I couldn't save him," she said. "But I can save others."
Daniel reached across the table and took her hand.
"That's more than my brother ever did," he said. "That's more than I've ever done."
They sat in silence, holding hands.
And Lina, watching from the doorway, felt something she had not expected.
Hope.
---
The meeting lasted two hours.
Daniel and Victoria talked about Marcus. About the accident. About the years of grief and guilt and regret. They talked about healing. About forgiveness. About the possibility of moving on.
When they finally stood up to leave, Daniel hugged Victoria.
"I don't forgive you," he said. "I don't think I ever will. But I don't blame you anymore."
Victoria hugged him back.
"That's enough," she said. "That's more than enough."
---
The drive home was quiet.
Victoria sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window, her face wet with tears.
"How do you feel?" Lina asked.
"Empty," Victoria said. "Not in a bad way. Just... empty. Like I've been carrying something for so long that I forgot what it felt like to put it down."
Lina reached over and took her hand.
"That's called healing," Lina said.
"Is that what this is?"
"I think so."
Victoria nodded slowly.
"I'm ready to go home," she said.
Lina squeezed her hand.
"Then let's go home," she said.
---
That Night
Victoria sat on the couch, a cup of tea in her hands, staring at the wall.
The twins were asleep. Ethan was in his office. Lina sat beside Victoria, not speaking, just being present.
"Daniel asked me something," Victoria said. "Before we left."
"What did he ask?"
"He asked if I thought Marcus was in heaven."
Lina was quiet for a moment. "What did you say?"
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
"I said I didn't know. I said I hoped so. I said I hoped that wherever he was, he was at peace."
Lina took her hand.
"I think that's the right answer," Lina said.
Victoria nodded.
"I think so too," she said.
They sat in the darkness, holding hands, while the city hummed outside the window.
And Victoria thought about all the years she had spent carrying the weight of Marcus's death.
She was finally ready to put it down.
---
End of Chapter Sixty-Five