62."Escape from Shadows"

Emma

Loneliness invaded every corner of that immense house. Even though Ize was by my side, the confirmation that we shared a blood connection only made the loneliness more palpable. Andrew, the man I thought I was beginning to know, had distanced himself since he learned about the pregnancy.

I felt lost and abandoned in that place. The news of the pregnancy had changed everything, and not in a way I could have predicted. I gazed at the door of my room, hoping that at any moment he would enter, that he would say anything, but time passed, and he didn't show up.

The pain and confusion inside me were almost unbearable. I was about to become a mother, something I never planned, and I felt completely alone. I went to my room and threw myself on the bed, tears streaming down my face. This was the first time in a long time that I had allowed someone to enter so deeply into my life, and the feeling of being rejected was devastating.

My eyes fixed on the necklace my mother used to wear. I