He included a photograph of a small garden and said he’d planted sunflowers because Sophie once told him over the phone that she liked them.

Hannah read the letter twice.

Part of her wanted to believe every word.

Another part remembered years of unanswered calls and quiet judgment.

She asked Elena for a recommendation for a family counselor and booked a session to think through what contact might look like.

She was proud that she no longer had to make every difficult decision alone.

Nathaniel listened when she told him, but did not urge reconciliation.

“My sister and I had years when we barely spoke,” he admitted.