A letter arrived from Kathy, Aria's younger sister, nearly a year after the rejection.
Aria recognized the handwriting before she broke the seal, and her hands went still for a long moment before she could make herself open it.
I have wanted to write for months, the letter began, and lost my courage every time. I was in that hall the night Damon rejected you. I was seventeen years old and frightened and I said nothing, and I have hated myself for it every day since. You were always kind to me. You used to sneak me sweets from the kitchen when Father was being hard on both of us. I owed you a voice in that hall and I gave you silence instead.
I do not expect forgiveness. I only wanted you to know that not everyone who stayed quiet agreed with what was done to you. Some of us have simply
