Chapter 9 - THE CHILD THEY SAID HAD DIED
Isabella was sitting at the kitchen table.
She wore a red sweater.
Her dark hair fell over one shoulder.
A notebook lay open in front of her.
Elena stopped in the doorway.
The girl looked up.
“Hello.”
Elena couldn't speak.
Margaret approached.
“Isabella, this is Elena.”
The girl studied her.
Then frowned.
“Are you the woman from the picture?”
Elena's breath caught.
“What picture?”
Isabella reached into her notebook.
She removed a faded photograph.
Elena recognized it immediately.
It had been taken sixteen years earlier.
Her wedding day.
She stood beside Dominic in a simple ivory dress.
Both were smiling.
Elena covered her mouth.
“Where did you get that?”
Isabella shrugged.
“It was in the box that came with me.”
Elena began crying.
The girl looked frightened.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Elena shook her head.
“No, sweetheart.”
She knelt.
“You didn't do anything wrong.”
Isabella stared at her.
Then whispered:
“Are you my mother?”
Elena couldn't answer immediately.
May you like
She simply nodded.
And Isabella began crying too.
