He acknowledged that he had used money and rank to avoid conversations he should have had honestly.

At the end he wrote that he understood if I never wanted him back.

He had started counseling and intended to cooperate with efforts to resolve the business expenses.

He did not ask for forgiveness in the letter, though I could hear the hope beneath every line.

I reread it twice.

It was more accountable than anything he’d said to my face.

Yet words are easiest to write after the consequences have already arrived.