One night, Alice received a call from her estranged father, who had left 20 years ago. His weak voice revealed he was dying and asked to see her, urging, “Please, don’t tell your mother.” He then confessed that her grandfather had paid him to leave due to his addictions and failures, offering, “He found someone else for your mom, someone better.”

Alice, torn between anger and curiosity, learned her father had watched her grow from afar and built a business with the money, all for her future. “I saw your graduation, your volleyball games. I was always there, just… from a distance.”

At the hospital, her father handed her a key to a safety deposit box containing letters he wrote every year. “After I’m gone, open it. You’ll find proof of everything, and the letters,” he said. After his death, she discovered the letters filled with his regrets, love, and pride in her achievements. The financial documents showed his efforts to secure her future.

Confronting her mother, she learned the truth. Her mother admitted, “I thought you deserved a better life than what your father could give you at that time.” With newfound understanding, Alice used the inheritance to start a scholarship fund in her father’s name, finding peace and closure in honoring his memory and her mother’s sacrifices.