The fireplace grew warm, as the letters scattered around the living room, “How could you?” Eliza’s cold voice roared through the house. “I gave you everything I had! My innocence, my love — my happiness! And you.. threw it away!”

She sobbed through the cold, silent night, “Poor Philip — He’s only eleven! And you decided to traumatise him! You never had time for any of us, your own family! Your selfless work has taken over yourself!.. I don’t even remember you anymore, Alexander.”

The words fired towards you — you felt guilty, you felt empty inside. How could you? You ruined their lives. How could you ever re-pay this pain?