Chapter 62

Maya's POV Of all the things I could learn, that was the one I wanted most. I didn’t want to be blindsided by emotions the way my mother had been. I didn’t want to be manipulated by affection or fooled by false love. I had learned the hard way that not all love is real, and some of it comes with conditions. I had loved my father more than anyone, but the truth was, he never really loved me back. He stopped loving me the moment he realized I was a witch. The letter from my mother had proven everything. He knew what I was, and instead of helping me understand it, he kept me in the dark. That envelope had been tampered with. He had held onto it, knowing what it meant, knowing what it could have done for me. He had let me suffer abuse, isolation, confusion... all because my truth didn’t fit his version of who I was supposed to be. I see that now. His love was never unconditional. It was tied to expectations, to control. And when I didn’t fit into the image he wanted, he let me go. I won’t