"I never imagined I would be writing you a letter like this…"

There was a time when Cassandra and Steven Lin seemed to have everything.

The couple, who shared five kids, had founded a world-leading dental clinic. Steven had authored best-selling books, given TED Talks, and appeared on US talk shows. Their life together was thriving.

"We built a legacy. We had it all," Cassandra wrote in a recent letter to Steven.

Then, the version of their life the world saw began to unravel.

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In 2024, Steven and Cassandra's marriage ended. The dentist welcomed a sixth child through an affair, ceased all affiliation with the dental clinic and started to use methamphetamine (as his family told the ABC).

The drugs took over Steven's life. He faced several domestic-violence related charges and reportedly threatened to kill Cassandra and the mother of his sixth child.

Then, just weeks before the father was due to face court, Steven was shot and killed by police in Potts Point, Sydney.

While under the influence of drugs, the former dentist attacked two women with a knife in an apartment complex. The victims were taken to hospital with serious injuries but are recovering.

Now, three weeks on, Cassandra has penned an open letter to her ex-husband, Steven — the man she once built a life with.

Cassandra Lin has penned an open letter to her ex-husband Steven. Image: Instagram/@iamcassandralin

"Dear Steven, I never imagined I would be writing you a letter like this," Cassandra began the letter, which she shared on Instagram.

"I always thought if we grew old together, the words l'd say to you would be over a kitchen table, or whispered across a pillow, not spoken out loud to a room full of people who loved you.

"When I met you, something in me settled. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had found peace... like I had finally found home. You weren't just the man I loved — I thought you were my soulmate, the person I believed I would walk beside for the rest of my life."

The mother-of-five went on to talk about their "life and legacy."

"We had it all," she wrote. "And the greatest part of that life was becoming parents."

"Watching you become a father is something I will always treasure. Our children were the apple of your eye. You loved them fiercely, proudly, completely. The way you looked at them — with wonder, with joy — is something I will carry with me forever. In those moments, our little family felt whole and unbreakable."

But, Cassandra continued, life is "rarely as simple as the dreams we build."

"The truth is that my world came crashing down when I discovered the life you had been living behind my back. The affairs. The secrets. The abuse. The child you fathered that I knew nothing about. It shattered the trust I had placed in you and the future I thought we were building together.

"The pain of that betrayal is something I'm still learning how to carry."

The widow acknowledged the complicated feelings that accompanied Steven's death.

"Standing here today, I'm reminded that people are never just the worst thing they've done, nor only the best. You were complicated. You were flawed. You made choices that hurt me deeply and changed our lives forever," she said.

"I know you've heard it all before, so I don't say it anymore, I had to stand back and let you fight your secret war. A war which you lost in the end."

"You made choices that hurt me deeply and changed our lives forever," Cassandra wrote. Image: Instagram/@iamcassandralin

The dental professional reflected on the man she "once loved with [her] whole heart."

"The man who gave me our children. The man who, for a time, made me feel safe and at home in this world. And those truths exist side by side," she said.

To end, Cassandra shared a promise to her ex-husband.

"So today, instead of trying to untangle all of that, I want to say this to you: I promise that I will take care of our children with everything I have. I will guide them, protect them, and love them in the way we always dreamed they would be loved. I will tell them stories about you — about the parts of you that made them laugh, the parts that made you their dad, the parts of you that live on in them."

For the mother, regardless of what happened between her and Steven, she said their children "deserve to know that their father loved them".

"Your story doesn't end here, because it lives on in them. And while our path together didn't end the way either of us imagined, I will carry forward the responsibility we began together — raising the beautiful children we brought into this world. Goodbye Steven, until we meet again."

*Mamamia has reached out to Cassandra for comment.

Feature image: Instagram/@iamcassandralin