My hands trembled as I took the crimson envelope.
Across the front, written in careful black ink, were two words:
Lisa Carter.
My daughter’s name.
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
The room seemed to tilt around me.
“Adrian…”
My voice cracked.
“Why do you have this?”
He looked away.
For the first time since I had known him, he seemed frightened.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
The kind of fear that comes from carrying a secret too long.
“Open it.”
My fingers fumbled with the seal.
