My name is Diane. I am Lori’s mother.
I am not writing to take her from you. I am writing because sixteen years ago I made a choice I have never once regretted, and today is the day I was told I would finally be allowed to explain it, if you were willing to hear it.
Lori’s biological father is a man named Victor Prescott. You may not know that name, and I hope you never had a reason to. He is — was — dangerous in a way that doesn’t show up in a background check, the kind of danger that comes with lawyers and money and people who make problems disappear quietly. When I found out I was pregnant, I also found out what happened to people who tried to leave him. I was one of them, once. I got out. I wasn’t going to let my daughter grow up inside that.
