Chapter 136

Author POV

Susan had never been the type to dwell on the past. Life has been simple, sometimes unpredictable. She loved her parents, appreciated the life they had given her, and never questioned the things that didn’t add up.

It started as something ordinary.

A quiet afternoon spent helping her mother clean out the storage closet in their home. The scent of dust and old wood filled the air as Susan kneeled beside a worn-out cardboard box.

"What’s in here?" she asked, brushing off the fine layer of dust covering the lid.

Her mother, standing nearby, glanced over with a distracted expression.

“Oh, just some old things from when you were a baby. Don’t worry about it.”

But Susan did worry about it.

There was something about the way her mother’s voice shaked, as if she wanted to move on from the topic too quickly.

Curious, Susan carefully lifted the lid and peered inside. Small, folded baby clothes sat neatly stacked