Chapter 10 - The Woman Waiting Outside
I took Harper’s hand and walked toward the entrance.
Beyond the glass doors, near the hotel driveway, stood a woman in a simple navy dress.
Natalie.
Her hair was shorter than I remembered, and she looked tired.
But I would have recognized her anywhere.
When she saw Harper holding my hand, her expression changed.
I stopped a few feet away.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I whispered, “Natalie, I’m so sorry.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Did you know I was trying to reach you?”
I shook my head.
“I thought you wanted me out of your life.”
She covered her mouth.
“They told me you had moved on.
I tried everything I knew to find you.”
Harper stood between us.
“Mommy, Daddy says he still loves me.”
Natalie knelt and wrapped her arms around our daughter.
“Of course he does, sweetheart.”
I joined them.
May you like
For the first time in almost two years, I held my daughter without wondering whether I would ever see her again.
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