THE STERLING INHERITANCE

V: I

ctuary-a pocket of quiet between rounds where screaming monitors and worried parents couldn't reach me. I curled into

new

did when I saw his name in my inbox. Well,

atched us. Anonymous correspondence with donors-a way to humanize the foundation's work, they s

felt the tension drain fr

r E.

guests, champagne flowing, everyone wanting something. A photo. A business card. Five minutes of my attention. And the

g surrounded by people an

t conversations I have. You don't want anything from me ex

I'm not

ou

.C

es. He wasn't crazy. God, if anyone understood

need you i

ved my phone in my pocket and hurried bac

-

home to my tiny studio apartment. It wasn't much-just one room with a kitchen alcove and a bathroom the size of a closet-but it was mine. No

winkle lights I'd strung above my bed bec

a, and settled cross-legged on my bed with my laptop

two sentences together without apologizing for taking up space. But h

r D.

my every family dinner. Except I'm not drowning because there are too many peop

lip. Was that too

dare speak aloud. He didn't know me. Didn't know I was the forgettable younges

pt t

ing like I hadn't been speaking at all. My father asked my sister about her latest c

nd noise in everyone else's story. The supporting ch

I exist beyond just taking up space. You see me-or at least, you see my

meaningful relationship is

too much. I should delete it, rewrit

iting myself into som

pt g

nely people finding connection through invisible ink and comp

making me feel

ou

.A

myself, then immediately wanted to take

xt from Vivienne in t

this Saturday. 7pm sharp. M

* *Ugh, do

** *Yes. Do

The little dots appeared, disappeared, appeared again. Then nothing. Read

se they

letters. I'd saved every single one over the past two years. Sometimes I reread them when the lone

versation. Two years of sharing fears and dreams and small daily mo

hrough, read

ke the real you is locked somewhere deep inside, an

ery sing

r favorite

the hospital is quiet and I

ly person in the world. Just me and my thoughts and

looked like beyond these letters-he understood. H

ed. A new emai

over, puls

r E.

't pathetic. And for what it's worth, you're not invisi

sounds terrible.

ep w

D

g my eyes. He always kn

ts. Tomorrow I'd go back to being the sister no one noticed, the daught

s words warming me from the inside

o made me feel seen was about