Mara sat back from the glow of the screen, her hands trembling against the edge of the table. For years she had built her life around silence, stacking one day on top of the next, convincing herself the past was buried. But one glimpse of that necklace had shattered the illusion. The walls she had built to survive now crumbled under the weight of hope.
She thought of the promise she had whispered when she slipped the chain into his blanket. She had begged the stone to carry her love forward, to remind him—even if only in some small, unexplainable way—that he had once been cherished. And now, eighteen years later, here he was, wearing it like a piece of himself.
The path ahead was uncertain, brimming with questions and risks. But Mara no longer felt paralyzed. She knew the necklace had done what she prayed it might: it had led her back to him. Whether he was ready to know the truth or not, she had been given a chance she never thought she’d have again.
For the first time in eighteen years, Mara allowed herself to believe not in regret, but in reunion.
The End.
Good story if it lets me connect to the rest of it.