Dear Brother, Your Regret Came Too Late

For sixteen years, Stephanie has carried the blame for her mother's death in childbirth. Her father, Morris, keeps his distance, and her brother, Alexander, treats her with open contempt. The one kindness Alexander once showed her is all she has to hold on to. When their cousin Abigail comes to live with them, Alexander's hostility sharpens into something crueler, and he tells Stephanie he wishes she had been the one who died. That wish takes on a terrible weight when Stephanie is diagnosed with cancer. Alexander's rejection and the family's coldness leave her to face her illness mostly alone. The story follows the consequences of words spoken too late and the slow unraveling of a household built on misunderstanding, as old secrets and buried guilt begin to surface. What Alexander refused to see in his sister may only become clear when there is no chance left to make amends.