“Me.”
Violet froze.
“You had me.”
Her face crumpled.
“Me.”
“I loved you too, Violet.”
She covered her mouth.
“You’ve spent weeks making me the enemy because it’s easier than admitting Mark chose something you couldn’t stop.”
She shook her head.
“He wasn’t himself.”
“I loved you too, Violet.”
“He knew you’d say that.”
Violet looked up.
“What?”
I reached for my laptop.
“Mark left me something.”
Her face went pale.
“If he had something to say, he should’ve said it while he was alive.”
“What?”
“He did.”
I pressed play.
Mark’s voice filled the room.
“Donation was my choice.”
Violet closed her eyes.
“Mom, if you’re hearing this, you’re probably furious. You loved me before anybody. But loving me doesn’t mean you get to decide which choices were mine.”
“Donation was my choice.”
Nobody spoke.
“Don’t make Sally prove she loved me by agreeing with you.”
Violet covered her mouth.
“And don’t put Cecelia in the middle. She isn’t something I left behind. She’s Sally’s daughter and mine, and she gets to become herself.”
“Turn it off,” Violet whispered.
Nobody spoke.
I did.
Then I looked at her.
“I want Cecelia to know you.”
Violet started crying.
“But you will never tell her I made her father do this. And you’ll never make her responsible for how much you miss him.”
“I don’t know who I am without him.”
