Amara sat in the small, dimly lit room of her cramped apartment, the weight of the letter in her hands heavier than any box she had ever packed. Her eyes traced the familiar, elegant script on the envelope, and a lump formed in her throat. It had been fifteen years since her mother disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a broken family and unanswered questions. And now, this—this letter—had arrived like a ghost from the past, shaking her to her core.
She had tried to move on, tried to bury the memories in the dusty corners of her mind, but the unanswered questions never truly left. Who took her mother? Why was she taken? Was there something she'd missed? Was her mother still alive?
The letter was from a lawyer — a name she didn't recognize, an address she didn't know, and words that could change everything. Her fingers trembled slightly as she broke the seal, the anticipation of what it might contain making her heart race. Slowly, she unfolded the paper inside, her breath catching as her eyes scanned the first line.
"We have found new evidence regarding your mother's disappearance."
Her pulse quickened. New evidence? After all these years? Could it really be true? Could this be the breakthrough she had been waiting for?
She sat back in her chair, her mind spinning. She had spent her childhood imagining the worst — what happened to her mother, where she might be — but never once did she consider that someone might be hiding the truth. But here it was, in black and white, a glimmer of hope that might finally end the haunting questions that had followed her since she was just a child.
There was a small note at the bottom of the letter. A name. An address.
"Meet me at the Thornridge estate. It's where everything began."
Thornridge. The name felt like a shadow on her soul. That was where it all started — the place she had once called home, where the laughter of family had once filled the halls before it all crumbled. Thornridge had become a symbol of her family's brokenness. It was the last place she ever thought she'd return.
Yet here she was, drawn back to it by a letter, a name, and a mystery she couldn't walk away from.
A part of her wanted to throw the letter away, to pretend it was nothing more than a cruel hoax. But deep down, she knew she couldn't. Not after all these years. Not after everything that had happened.
Without another thought, she stood up, walking toward her closet. She had always promised herself she would never go back to Thornridge. But the truth was calling her. The answer was waiting for her. She couldn't ignore it any longer.