Chapter 10 - THE FIRST MEETING
They met in a quiet hotel lounge.
Neutral place.
Claire came with Ryan but sat across the room.
Diane did not know the date.
Laura arrived early.
She wore navy.
Carried no photographs.
No gifts.
Good.
Ryan sat opposite her.
For thirty seconds, they only looked.
Then Laura said:
“You look like Matthew.”
Ryan frowned.
“My biological father?”
“Yes.”
“Alive?”
Laura nodded.
“He died nine years ago.”
Another loss.
Ryan almost laughed at how much history could arrive in one sentence.
Then:
“Did you abandon me?”
Laura’s face tightened.
“No.”
“Did you sign the adoption?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Laura looked down.
“Because everyone around me said loving you meant letting you go.”
Ryan swallowed.
“Did you believe that?”
“At nineteen? Eventually.”
Then she told him:
her father threatened to cut her off,
the family attorney said her mental-health records would destroy her,
Diane promised Ryan would know the truth when he was older.
Laura believed at least one promise.
That promise was broken.
Ryan asked:
“Why didn’t you come to the house?”
“I did.”
He stared.
“When?”
“When you were nine.”
His stomach dropped.
Laura had driven to Connecticut.
Waited across from his school.
Saw Ryan leave holding Diane’s hand.
Then left.
“Why?”
Laura cried.
“Because you looked happy.”
Ryan’s voice hardened.
“That wasn’t your decision.”
Laura nodded.
“No.”
Another adult making a decision for him.
May you like
Different motive.
Same wound.
