Chapter 94 094
EMILY
For a moment, everything felt suspended, like the world had paused mid-breath and forgotten how to move forward.
Even the air felt heavier.
Still.
My gaze drifted between the two women in front of me, trying to make sense of what I was seeing, but nothing was lining up.
My mother had gone completely still, her entire body locked in place, her eyes fixed on Cecilia with an intensity that didn’t belong between strangers.
It wasn’t curiosity.
It wasn’t confusion.
It was recognition.
Deep. Immediate. Undeniable.
Cecilia looked just as surprised, though she masked it better. She always did. But I caught it—the flicker in her eyes, that brief crack before everything smoothed back into place.
“Cece?”
The name slipped from my mother’s lips so softly it almost didn’t feel real, like something pulled from a memory she hadn’t visited in years.
My brows pulled together.
Cece?
The name echoed in my head, unfamiliar and strange.
Before I could even question it, my mother let out a breath that sounded like disbelief tangled with something softer. Something fragile.
“Oh my God…”
And then she moved.
Fast.
Too fast for anyone to stop her.
She crossed the space between them in seconds and pulled Cecilia into a tight embrace, her arms wrapping around her like she had just found something she thought she’d lost forever.
“I can’t believe it,” she said, her voice breaking, thick with emotion. “It’s you. It’s really you, Cece.”
I blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Trying to understand what I was seeing.
Because the emotion in my mother’s voice—
It was real.
Raw.
The kind you couldn’t fake even if you tried.
Cecilia stiffened.
It was subtle, but I saw it.
Her shoulders tensed, her body not quite melting into the hug the way my mother’s did. There was hesitation there. A pause. Like she didn’t know what to do with this version of the past suddenly thrown in front of her.
Still, after a second, she slowly lifted her hands and placed them on my mother’s back.
Not tight.
Not emotional.
Just… there.
“I—Gianna,” she said, her voice quieter than usual, caught somewhere between surprise and restraint.
But my mother didn’t seem to notice.
Or maybe she did and didn’t care.
She pulled back just enough to look at Cecilia’s face, her hands still gripping her arms like she needed to make sure she wasn’t imagining things.
“Look at you,” she said, a trembling smile spreading across her face. “You haven’t changed. Not one bit.”
Her tone softened, teasing now, familiar in a way that made my stomach twist.
“You still have that same look,” she added. “Like you’re judging everyone in the room but pretending you’re not.”
Cecilia let out a small breath that almost sounded like a laugh—but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“You’re exaggerating,” she murmured.
“I’m not,” my mother insisted quickly, shaking her head. “You used to do it all the time.”
A faint flicker of something passed across Cecilia’s face.
Recognition.
Memory.
But it was gone just as quickly.
“That was a long time ago,” she said.
“Too long,” my mother replied softly. “I’ve missed you so much.”
And before Cecilia could respond, she pulled her into another hug.
Tighter this time.
Warmer.
Like she was trying to make up for lost years in seconds.
That’s when the reactions started.
“What is going on?” Ryan’s voice cut through the moment, confusion clear in every word as he looked between them. “Did I miss something? Because I feel like I missed something.”
Morgan let out a small, stunned laugh. “Wait—hold on. You two know each other?”
“Know each other?” Hazel repeated, eyes wide. “This looks like a full-blown reunion.”
“It is a reunion,” my mother said immediately, pulling back again but keeping one hand wrapped around Cecilia’s arm, like she was afraid she’d disappear if she let go. “We grew up together.”
That made the room go even quieter.
“Grew up together?” Ryan echoed. “As in—friends?”
My mother gave a small, almost incredulous laugh. “Friends? We were inseparable. We did everything together.”
Everyone was reacting.
Everyone except my father.
My gaze shifted to him instinctively.
He hadn’t moved.
Hadn’t spoken.
Hadn’t even smiled.
He just stood there, watching Cecilia with a calm expression that felt… wrong.
My mother, however, was still caught in her moment.
She turned toward him, her face lit up with excitement. “Will,” she called, her voice bright. “Can you believe this? It’s Cece.”
A beat passed.
Then another.
And when he finally responded, his tone didn’t match hers.
“I can see that,” he said simply.
That was it.
No warmth.
No step forward.
No emotion.
Just acknowledgment.
It made something shift in the room—something subtle but noticeable.
But my mother didn’t dwell on it.
She turned back to Cecilia, still holding her hands now, her happiness completely undimmed.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she said again. “After all these years… Cece, where have you been? Why didn’t you ever reach out? Do you know how many times I tried to find you?”
Cecilia inhaled slowly, like she was steadying herself.
“I moved around,” she said carefully. “Life… happened.”
“That’s not an answer,” my mother said softly.
“It’s the only one I have.”
There was something in her tone this time.
Something final.
And it created a small crack in my mother’s expression.
But before she could press further—
“Okay, this is nice,” I said, my voice cutting sharply through the room.
Everyone turned to me instantly.
“But this is not the time for a reunion.”
The words came out harsher than I intended, but I didn’t take them back.
I couldn’t.
“I need to find my daughter,” I continued, my voice unsteady despite my effort to stay composed. “Zara is missing, and I don’t have time for this.”
Silence fell.
Immediate.
Heavy.
The warmth drained from my mother’s face as reality crashed back in.
“Emily—” she started.
“I’m serious,” I cut in quickly, shaking my head. “I don’t care who knows who or what history you have, I need to find her.”
My throat tightened painfully.
“She’s out there,” I said, my voice cracking. “She could be scared. She could be hurt—she could be—”
“Emily.”
My mother’s voice stopped me.
Soft.
But firm.
She stepped toward me quickly, her expression shifting completely.
The excitement was gone.
She reached for my hand, holding it tightly.
“They’ve found her.”