Chapter 46 Chapter 46

Chapter 46 Chapter 46
_Anya's POV_

I closed the bathroom door behind me and leaned against it for a moment, allowing myself to finally breathe.

The sound of running water slowly filled the room, creating a quiet space away from everyone else. For the first time that day, I was completely alone.

There was no Mom Jess.....no Jacob.....no pretending that everything was normal. My fingers slowly moved toward my pocket and my heart immediately tightened.

The photograph.

I still had it.

I carefully pulled it out and stared at the old piece of paper in my hands. The edges were slightly bent from being folded and hidden away but the image was still clear enough for me to see every detail.

The woman....the baby in her arms....the strange resemblance that I could not explain.

My fingers trembled slightly as I looked at the picture. The baby looked so small and innocent. There was something about the image that made my chest ache every time I saw it. I did not understand why I felt this way. I had never met that child. I had never known that woman.

So why did looking at them make me feel like I was searching for a part of myself that had been missing?

Why did my heart feel connected to something I had never known?

Maya remained quiet for a while, as if she was trying to understand the same thing. Then she finally spoke softly inside my mind.

"Anya..."

I swallowed and continued staring at the photograph. "I know."

"You feel it too."

My fingers tightened around the paper. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

Maya did not answer immediately. Because she knew. She knew the questions that had followed me my entire life.

I had grown up without knowing where I came from. I had never known my parents, never known my family, never known the reason I had been left alone in the world.

For years, I had convinced myself that it did not matter. That my past did not define me and I could build my own future without knowing where I came from.

But now....one old photograph had opened a door I had spent my entire life unknowingly searching for. A door that led to answers I was not sure I was ready to find.

I slowly moved closer to the bathtub. I was still holding the photograph carefully between my fingers. The water continued pouring. It was creating a soft sound that filled the silence around me.

I placed the photograph on the counter beside me, intending to keep it somewhere safe while I got ready. But the moment my fingers brushed against the image one last time, something strange happened.

A sudden warmth spread through my hand.

I froze.

The photograph felt different....almost alive. My breath caught as a strange energy moved through my body and for a moment, the entire world around me seemed to disappear.

The bathroom disappeared. The sound of the running water slowly faded away until I could no longer hear it. The walls around me blurred, the cold tiles beneath my feet vanished and for a brief moment, I felt as though I was falling into a place I could not see.

Then everything changed. I was no longer standing in the bathroom. I found myself somewhere completely different.

Warmth surrounded me. A soft golden glow filled the room, making everything feel peaceful and familiar even though I had never been there before. The sound of rain tapping against the windows mixed with the gentle crackling of a fireplace nearby.

I looked around in confusion. My heart began beating faster.

"Where am I?"

My voice disappeared into the quiet room. No one answered. I slowly turned around, trying to understand what was happening and then, I saw her.

The woman from the photograph.

She was sitting near a large window, her blonde hair falling softly over her shoulders. She looked exactly like the woman who had appeared in my dreams countless times before.

But this time, she was different. This time, she felt real.

My breath caught in my throat as I noticed the baby resting in her arms. It was the same baby from the photograph.

My eyes widened. "No..."

A strange ache spread through my chest as I slowly stepped closer. I did not understand why I felt this way. I did not know this woman. I did not know that child.

Yet something inside me reacted as if I had been searching for them my entire life. The woman looked down at the baby in her arms with a tenderness I had never seen before. Her expression was filled with so much love that my heart tightened.

It was the kind of love I had always wondered about. The kind of love I had spent my entire life wishing I could experience. Then, almost as if she could feel my presence, the woman slowly lifted her head. Her eyes met mine.

Immediately, tears filled her eyes. "Anya..."

My entire body froze.

The way she said my name was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was not just a simple word. It carried pain, love and longing.

It sounded like she had spent years waiting for this moment....like she had been carrying my name in her heart for a lifetime.

My lips parted but for several seconds, no words came out. Finally, I managed to whisper, "Who are you?"

The woman's expression became filled with sadness. She looked down at the baby in her arms before looking back at me.

"I wanted you to know the truth."

My heartbeat grew faster. "The truth?"

She nodded slowly. "You have spent so many years believing that you were alone."

Her words struck something deep inside me because they were true. I had spent my entire life without answers. I had grown up without knowing my parents, where I came from and why I had been left behind.

I had always told myself that it did not matter....that my past did not decide who I was. But hearing her say those words made something inside me hurt.

"I was alone," I whispered.

The woman's expression immediately broke. "No."

Her voice was gentle but filled with emotion. "You were never unwanted."

My eyes burned as I stared at her. Her words felt impossible. Because all my life, a small part of me had wondered if there was something wrong with me. If there was a reason I had been abandoned. If maybe I had simply not been important enough for someone to stay.

But this woman was looking at me as if I was the most precious thing in the world. She slowly reached out her hand toward me.

"I searched for you."

My breath caught. "You... searched for me?"

She nodded, tears shining in her eyes. "Every day. Every night. I prayed that one day you would discover the truth."

My gaze moved toward the baby in her arms. The baby who looked so small.....so innocent. The baby who might have been me.

"Who are you?" My voice trembled.

The woman smiled sadly. "My name is Emily."

The name echoed through my mind.

Emily.

Then she whispered the words that made my entire world stop.

"I am your mother."