Letter Number 9
My Dearest Katerina,
Life after we were married wasn't what we expected. Although we loved our son very much, we weren't able to have another child. Our sweet baby daughter, Kyra Elizabeth Alamain had passed away soon after birth. We were both devastated.
The loss of our daughter was difficult for both of us, but the situation became worse when our son returned to boarding school, leaving our mansion barren and empty. You seemed to believe that somehow I blamed you for the loss of our daughter as well as the inability to become pregnant again even though we continued to try. After several IVF attempts ended in loss and failure, you threw yourself into your work at the hospital as our marriage began to fall apart.
Our marriage wasn't all that was crumbing. I feared for my own sanity, although I could not understand the cause of all my dark rages. After several intense arguments, you began to fear me. I had no idea that one lonely night you had sought comfort in the arms of a co-worker. Immediately, you regretted your actions. You hoped I would never discover your affair.
Vivian, who still wanted revenge on you for having taken Nicholas, had gotten out of the mental hospital. She had her servant start an investigation. She discovered that you had been unfaithful. It wasn't long at all until the rest of it was known. You were pregnant ... and the child you carried wasn't mine. Seeking help from Dr. Wuu again, Vivian had been giving me herbs, causing me to have angry episodes which exploded into violence.
When you came to me, tearfully confessing your affair and your resulting pregnancy, I lost it. "You'll never see that child and as soon as it is born, I am sending it away!" I threatened.
You begged me not to take your baby away. You said you wanted to love and raise the baby together. "It's not MY baby. MY baby is dead!" I yelled, slapping you across the face for the first time ever.
You were hurt and heartbroken, horrified that I had struck you. You had no clue that Aunt Vivian had been giving me powerful herbs for months, slowly causing me to descend into madness.
Over the weeks and months that followed, you watched your loving husband become a cold, ruthless monster of man. On the day of your baby girl's birth, I came into the hospital room, wrenching your newborn daughter out of your arms. "Kiss her goodbye; you'll NEVER see her again," I hissed.
You could only sob and kiss the tiny infant good-bye, memorizing every detail of her beautiful face. There was nothing you could do as I had threatened to harm your baby girl. You now lived in constant fear of the man you had once loved. There was no loving the beast that I had become.
At the hospital, I held the baby in my arms, looking down at her tiny face and seeing a glimpse of our daughter Kyra in those bright blue eyes. At first I thought I could love her, then I realized this wasn't Kyra but the result of my beloved Katerina having cheated on me, so I sent the baby away. I gave her to the Layton's. When you sobbed, I taunted that the child was better off without her "whoring" mother.
From that point on, our lives became an endless cycle of anger, violence, pain, and resentment... By October 2009, there was very little left of the man I had been. You wanted to escape me and make a better life. You wanted to find your daughter and reunite with our son Nicholas, but I couldn't abide by the thought that you would leave me.
Like so many times before, we got into a terrible fight. But this time, you stabbed me in the stomach. I fell to the floor, proclaiming that you would never, EVER find your daughter. You left me lying there in a pool of my own blood as you returned to Salem, hoping that some of your old friends would help you.
For many years you had kept the secret that your brief affair had produced a daughter, Melanie Layton. To your surprise, you came to discovered that Melanie was now living in Salem.
You formed a close connection to your daughter, although she was not pleased with your interference in her life. Not long after you were reunited with her, Vivian, too, arrived in Salem. Vivian was out to get revenge for my death (or so she said). Vivian decided to kill your daughter.
On Philip and Melanie's wedding day, Vivian lured Melanie up on the roof. You followed, pulling a gun on Vivian to stop her. Just as you fired the shot, Melanie stepped in front of Vivian to protect her. You were horrified when you shot your own daughter.
Melanie thankfully lived and you told her that she was your daughter. You explained that I had forced you to give her away at birth. At first Melanie didn't want to forgive you. She felt you had abandoned her, but gradually the two of you bonded. For once, you had found some happiness in Salem with your daughter Melanie despite the fact that our son Nicholas continued to blame you for my death.
But my darling, your biggest surprise ever was yet to come...
Forever praying for your forgiveness, Lawrence James Alamain
