The letter was positively crawling with wishes and hopes for Deirdre, and only a few lines described the mother’s own state of affairs. She had clearly believed this was just another of many letters she would pen for her daughter in the future—she had thought she would get to write again.

She had not known, at the time, that she was writing the last letter she would pen in her life.

Brendan’s chest tightened. He had just destroyed one of the most priceless things in the world… with his own h