YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO MATTER THIS MUCH TO ME. NOT LIKE THIS. WE ARE YOUNG. FRIENDS. BUT SOMETHING CHANGED, AND I DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO STOP IT. I STARTED NOTICING
EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU-YOUR SMILE, THE WAY YOUR EYES LIGHT UP WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THINGS YOU LOVE, THE WAY YOU FIGHT FOR THE PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT. AND BEFORE I KNEW IT, I
WAS IN DEEP.
I THINK I’VE BEEN FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU FOR A LONG TIME, EVEN BEFORE I KNEW WHAT THAT
MEANT.
I KNOW YOU ARE YOUNG. AND MAYBE YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THAT YET. MAYBE YOU’RE
CONFUSED. I GET IT. I DON’T EXPECT ANYTHING FROM YOU. I JUST NEEDED YOU TO KNOW… THAT YOU’RE MORE THAN A FRIEND TO ME. YOU’RE EVERYTHING. AND I LOVE YOU.
2/10
Lettors
I froze.
My chest tightened.
This… this was a confession of love.
From Levi.
Levi had loved me all along.
Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked fast, swallowing the lump in my throat.
I reached into the envelope again-and pulled out another folded note. My supposed response.
I opened it.
And my heart dropped.
It was the same message.
The exact same one that was sent to Lennox.
I turned sharply to Lennox. “Get your envelope,” I said, my voice calm but authoritative.
He nodded and left the room without a word.
3/11
Letters
I turned to Louis and opened his envelope next. My hands were shaking now, and I had to steady them.
Another letter.
OLIVIA,
YOU DRIVE ME INSANE.
YOU CONFUSE ME, YOU DISTRACT ME, YOU MAKE EVERYTHING COMPLICATED. AND YET-EVERY TIME YOU WALK INTO A ROOM, IT’S LIKE I FORGET HOW
TO BREATHE.
I’VE TRIED TO PRETEND I DON’T FEEL THIS WAY. I’VE JOKED ABOUT IT. TEASED YOU. TEASED MYSELF. BUT NONE OF THAT MAKES IT EASIER. YOU’RE UNDER MY SKIN, LIV.
AND THE WORST PART? I DON’T EVEN WANT TO STOP FEELING THIS. BECAUSE LOVING YOU… EVEN SECRETLY… EVEN SILENTLY… IT’S THE ONE THING THAT MAKES ME FEEL REAL.
I DON’T KNOW IF YOU FEEL ANYTHING BACK. I GET IT IF YOU DON’T. BUT I HAD TO SAY IT. I HAD TO LET YOU KNOW-JUST ONCE-THAT YOU MATTER in their Lettern
TO ME IN A WAY NO ONE ELSE EVER WILL.
Another confession.
Louis had written one too.
All three of them.
Each one of them had loved me. And I never knew.
I stared at the paper in my hand, my throat burning.
This was everything I ever wanted.
My secret dream since I was a little girl.
To be loved by these men… to matter to them more than a little friend.
I almost let the tears fall-but I stopped them. No. Not yet.
I reached into Louis’s envelope again.
And there it was.
The same response. Word for word.
Cold and hurtful,
6/19
C
Leiters
My hands shook so hard, the paper crumpled in my grip. I didn’t even realize I was trembling until Levi reached out, only for me to jerk away.
I clutched the paper in my hand, feeling rage rise inside me.
Someone had forged those replies, sent the same thing to the three brothers, and they all believed it.
Just then, Lennox came in with his envelope, and I didn’t bother opening it. Rather, I threw everything on the floor at them. “Pick them up and read it,” I spat in anger, my eyes blurring with tears.
They all stood frozen as the letters lay scattered across the floor.
“Pick them up,” I said again, my voice sharp and cracking.
They staked at me for a second-stunned-but slowly obeyed.
Levi picked up Lennox’s.
Lennox picked up Levi’s.
Letters
Louis picked up his but leaned over to read the letter in Lennox’s hand.
The room went still as the three brothers read through letters that didn’t belong to them.
Their eyes scanned the pages… then widened.
Brows furrowed.
Mouths opened slightly in disbelief.
They were realizing the truth.
That every letter, the hurtful response they thought came from me-was the same.
Copied. Reused.
Only the name changed,
My voice shook, but I forced it out. “I never read your letters,” I whispered. “I never got the chance. Someone stole them before I ever saw them. Stole the gifts too. And they wrote those replies back to you all.”
I moved quickly, snatching one of the fake letters f m Levi’s hand.
Letters
It was the one meant for Lennox.
The one he thought I had written to him all those years ago.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.