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Not one entry celebrated my grades.
Or promotions.
Or awards.
Only me.
The girl I’d never believed was enough.
Tears spilled onto the paper.
Matthew spoke quietly.
“I noticed something when we were fifteen.”
I couldn’t answer.
“You never lacked ability, Ashley.” His voice cracked. “You left before you could discover it.”
“I noticed something when we were fifteen.”
I remembered him watching me during debate tryouts.
Abandon art competitions.
Tear up applications.
“I kept thinking…” He swallowed hard. “…if fear made every decision for you… then maybe someone needed to stop fear.”
I looked up.
“So you became that someone.”
“I thought I was helping.”
“So you became that someone.”
“You lied. You manipulated me.”
“Yes.”
“You decided my future.”
“I…”
His answer died before it reached his lips.
I closed the journal.
“You never trusted me, Matthew.”
“You decided my future.”
His forehead creased.
“I trusted you completely.”
“No.” My voice finally broke. “You trusted your plan.”
Matthew didn’t defend himself.
For the first time since I’d known him, he looked genuinely lost.
“I never wanted your success.” He whispered the sentence almost to himself. “I wanted you to see what I saw.”
I shook my head.
“You never gave me permission to fail.”
“You trusted your plan.”
The silence that followed felt endless.
Then Matthew walked back to the cedar chest.
From the very bottom, he removed one final notebook.
Unlike the others, it wasn’t full.
Only the first page had writing.
He handed it to me.
My hands shook as I read.
When Ashley finally believes she doesn’t need me anymore… my job is finished.