Page 30 of The Sound of Forever
You are so much stronger than you know, Julianna. You have a resilience that I’ve seen time and time again, in the way you’ve faced challenges and forged your own path. This moment, as hard as it is, will be another testament to that strength. You’ll find your footing again. And when you do, you’ll see that being alone isn’t a punishment—it’s a gift. A chance to know yourself more deeply, to learn what you truly want and deserve.
So take your time. Feel the sadness, the anger, the confusion—all of it. Don’t rush to fill the silence with noise or the space with someone else. Sit with yourself. Be kind to yourself. And remember that you are whole, even when you’re on your own.
Life has a way of surprising us, my love. Sometimes it breaks us open, but that’s how the light gets in. Trust that this isn’t the end of your story. It’s just a new beginning.
Always,
Mom
ChapterThirty-Four
Julianna
After reading Mom’s letter,I check that Rayne is asleep.
I need something stronger than breathing through poses and trying to decide what to do. That letter is a few years too late. I could’ve used it when I broke up with . . .him.I don’t want to remember. But then, there’s Mom confirming what she vaguely said, “Your dad cheated on me.”
It’d be something I should let go. Yet, I don’t. Not today. I put on a sweatshirt, grab my phone and head to the kitchen where I grab a bottle of wine and a glass.
Once I’m outside sitting in one of the lounging chairs, I’m ready. The phone feels heavier than it should as I sit at the kitchen table, staring at his number. My fingers hover over the screen, trembling slightly, and I force myself to breathe deeply, inhaling and exhaling slowly until the motion steadies me.
You can do this, Julianna. You need to do this.
The thought loops in my mind, but it doesn’t make pressing the call button any easier. I hit the button before I can talk myself out of it. The ringing echoes in my ear, louder and louder with each passing second, until finally, a voice answers.
“Julie?” His voice is cautious, as if he’s unsure whether to be hopeful or brace for an onslaught. “Is everything okay?”
“Not sure if I would use the word okay,” I manage, my voice cracking slightly.
There’s a pause, long enough to make me wonder if the call dropped. Then he exhales loudly. “What’s going on?”
“Just when my future is uncertain, the past seems to be knocking on my door,” I say, but once the words are out, I’m not sure if that even makes sense.
“How can I help you?” he asks hesitantly.
“Well, Mom,” I start. “She left some letters . . .” I trail my voice before I tell him what Elena did with Mom’s belongings. How she packed mine and Oscar’s stuff in boxes after she died and didn’t let us in the house. It was hers, everything was hers. How I found some of Mom’s things in a box and I’m slowly reading the letters she left me.
He listens to everything without interruptions. “I just read one. One that confirm things she only hinted after . . . I have questions.”
“About?” he asks, there’s weariness in his tone though.
“About the divorce,” I say firmly. “About the affair.”
There’s a long silence, and I think he’s going to hang up. But then he sighs, the sound probably carrying years of things left unsaid. “What do you want to know?”
The words spill out before I can stop them. “How could you do it? How could you destroy our family like that? Did you ever think about what it would do to us? To Mom? To me and Oscar? Elena was destroyed. And then, you abandoned us.”
I take a long breath and repeat, “You. Abandoned. Us.”
“Jules, I didn’t have an affair,” he states, firmly. “I tried to explain to your mother that those were false accusations but she decided not to believe me.”
“What?”
“Nothing happened,” he says, and there’s a desperation in his tone now, like he needs me to believe him. “Your mother believed it because Elena told her. She said she caught me . . . that her friends saw me having sex with one of her classmates at a movie theater. But that’s the thing, I never went to watch movies with anyone other than your mom or you guys. She just made that up.”
I can’t speak. The words bounce around in my head, refusing to settle. “Elena?”
“She was drinking, partying . . . out of control for a while,” he says, his voice tight with frustration. “I was trying to set boundaries, to pull her back from . . . whatever she was heading toward. Your mom kept saying it was a phase and to let her be. I knew better. Though Elena didn’t like it. So she retaliated. Said I was cheating, that her friends saw me with someone else.”
