Chapter 2: The Woman Who Stole Eight Years

Chapter 2: The Woman Who Stole Eight Years That evening, Victoria canceled every meeting on her calendar. Instead, she drove Sophia to a small apartment on the edge of the city. Everything inside had been preserved exactly as Emily had left it. A neighbor unlocked the door with watery eyes. "I've been paying the rent from Emily's savings," the elderly woman admitted. "She always believed someone from her family would come." Victoria stepped inside. The apartment was painfully modest. Secondhand furniture. Children's books stacked neatly on a shelf. Medicine bottles lined the kitchen counter. Every surface carried evidence of a woman who had fought every day simply to survive. Then Victoria noticed dozens of unopened envelopes. Every one addressed to her. Every one returned. She opened the first letter with shaking hands. Victoria... I don't know why you never answer. Maybe Father told you I'm dead. Maybe someone wants us apart. But if anything happens to me... please find Sophia. The second letter was worse. Emily described losing her job after someone anonymously accused her of fraud. The third revealed her illness. The final letter had been written only three weeks before her death. I don't blame you anymore. If you ever read this... love my daughter the way I always knew you would. Victoria collapsed into the chair, sobbing for the first time in years. Outside the apartment, Sophia quietly watched through the doorway. She had imagined this reunion a thousand different ways. None of them included forgiveness.

2 chapters