A couple walked in.
Well dressed. Calm.
But their eyes—
They were locked on me like I might disappear.
The woman stepped forward, her voice shaking.
“Oh my God…”
The man stood beside her, silent, staring.
Desiree spoke softly.
“This is her.”
The woman started crying.
“You’re alive,” she whispered.
My chest tightened.
“I’m Michael,” the man said. “This is Danielle. We’re your parents.”
I couldn’t speak.
He continued, voice tight.
“Someone we trusted took you. We think he planned to ask for money. But something went wrong. He disappeared. And so did you.”
“We searched everywhere,” Danielle said. “For years.”
Her voice broke.
“We never stopped.”
Something inside me shifted.
Slowly.
Carefully.
“Will you come home with us?” she asked.
I looked at Desiree.
She nodded once.
So I said yes.
Their house didn’t look real.
It was quiet. Clean. Bigger than anything I had ever known.
“This is your home,” Danielle said.
I didn’t know what to feel.
They showed me a hallway.
Then a door.
Then more rooms.
