Chapter 18 HURT AND HELP

The letter from her father arrived without warning.

It was scrawled on cheap paper, the handwriting uneven as if written in haste. Ariel found it tucked under the door one morning. The note was brief:

"I heard about the scholarship. I'm proud. Come home. We can start over."

Ariel's throat tightened. Her father had not written in years. He had not