“That’s not possible.”
“She tried to find your family,” Desiree continued. “We both did. We checked reports, asked questions, and followed every lead we could. But nothing matched, especially without any details or even a name.”
“So she just… kept me?”
“She did everything properly,” Desiree said. “Legal channels. Paperwork. It took time, but eventually… You became hers.”
My throat tightened.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
Desiree’s expression softened.
“Because she didn’t want you to feel like you didn’t belong.”
Silence filled the space between us.
“So she just… kept me?”
Everything I thought I knew… shifted.
“And the necklace?” I asked finally.
“That’s where things changed.”
She gestured toward it.
“It’s not ordinary. Even back then, we knew that. The design, the craftsmanship, it pointed to something older, something valuable. So we started digging deeper.”
“What did you find?”
“Not enough,” Desiree admitted. “But enough to know it came from a very specific circle. The kind of people who don’t lose things like that… unless something has gone very wrong.”
A chill ran through me.
