I wrinkled my forehead. “For what reason did he refer to you as ‘the boss’ with such fear?”
Susan let out a long breath. “Due to the fact that I am the owner of this shop along with three similar locations around town. He claims I carry myself with the strictness of a ruler rather than a normal manager.”
That fact by itself shocked me, but it was nothing compared to her next words.
Susan’s eyes shifted down to the piece of jewelry.
“That item,” she stated calmly, “is the reason I have spent years trying to track you down.”
“For what reason?”
Susan paused, and then pointed at a seat. “Take a seat. I insist.”
A certain heaviness in her voice convinced me to obey.
I took the chair.
She settled into the spot directly opposite me, linking her fingers in her lap.
“The things I am preparing to share with you… The grandmother you lost never found the proper moment to discuss.”
An icy chill settled deep inside my ribs.
“She was not related to you by blood,” Susan stated softly.
I moved my head from side to side right away. “Incorrect. That is wrong. She brought me up. She—”
“I am aware,” Susan interrupted swiftly. “Plus she cared for you deeply. That detail was entirely genuine. All of it.”
“So what exactly are you implying?”
Susan drew in a deep pull of air.
“Decades in the past, your Nana discovered you.”
My brain completely emptied of thoughts.
“Discovered me?”
“Hidden in the shrubs,” Susan answered quietly. “Close to a trail she walked on her route back to her house. You were just an infant, swaddled neatly, wearing that exact chain resting against your throat.”
I gazed at her in pure shock.
“That cannot be true.”
“It is the truth,” she replied. “She carried you straight to my home initially. She had no idea how to handle it. We found zero letters, zero names. Nothing but a baby… wearing that jewelry.”
I lowered my gaze, my pulse hammering in my ears.
“She attempted to locate your relatives,” Susan went on. “We both tried our hardest. We looked at missing child files, questioned people, and chased down every clue available. Yet nothing connected, mainly because we lacked facts or a basic identity.”
“So she simply… held onto me?”
“She followed the correct procedures,” Susan clarified. “Official methods. Court documents. The process required patience, but ultimately… You legally became her child.”
The muscles in my neck felt rigid.
“Why did she hide this from me?”
Susan’s face turned much kinder.
“Due to the fact that she worried you might feel like an outsider in her home.”
Quietness stretched heavily in the room.
Every single fact I believed about my life… completely transformed.
“What about the jewelry?” I questioned at last.
“That detail is what altered our path.”
She pointed her finger at the chain.
“The item is not common. We realized that truth even in those days. The style, the handiwork, it indicated a rich history and serious wealth. Thus, we began investigating further.”
“What information did you uncover?”
“Barely anything,” Susan confessed. “Yet we learned enough to realize it belonged to a highly exclusive group of individuals. The sort of families who never misplace items of that nature… except if a terrible tragedy has occurred.”
A shiver rushed over my skin.
“Your Nana assisted me in launching my initial storefront,” Susan went on. “That is the way this entire business began. As the years passed, I grew the company, made wealthy contacts, and secretly watched for clues.”
“Looking for me?” I questioned.
“Looking for the jewelry,” she fixed my sentence. “Since we understood… eventually, the item could guide us straight to your blood relatives.”
I leaned back in my chair gradually, attempting to understand the heavy information.
Susan’s gaze grew very warm.
“Then, once your Nana died, I continued the hunt for two solid decades. I turned it into my personal duty. I refused to allow this mystery to remain unsolved.”
“What is the next step?”
Susan looked directly into my eyes.
“The decision rests entirely with you.”
I stared down at the metal chain.
The exact item I visited this store to trade away.
“Do you honestly believe you can track them down?” I asked.
Her response did not waver.
“I have already done so.”
My chin jerked upward instantly.
“Excuse me?”
She gave a slow, deliberate nod.
“The process consumed years of my life. Checking records, tracing makers, utilizing secret networks. However, in the end… I discovered the right family.”
My heart rate jumped again.
“Are you absolutely certain?”
“I would not make such a claim if I had doubts.”
My fingers shook just a little bit.
“How do we proceed?”
Susan answered without a pause.
“If you give me the okay… I will phone them right now.”
The office abruptly seemed to shrink around me.
This was the breaking point. My entire world reorganized itself in a single second.
I pulled in a gulp of air.
“Make the call.”
She nodded her head and grabbed the receiver.
The conversation was brief. Peaceful. Straight to the point.
Once she placed the phone down, she focused her eyes on mine.
“They desire to see you in person,” she stated.
“At what time?”
“The following day. Right here in this office, at twelve o’clock.”
I felt terrified, yet I said yes. I desired… rather… I absolutely required the truth.
I got zero rest that evening.
Not due to an inability to sleep, but simply because my brain refused to turn off and kept analyzing everything.
When the sun came up, I returned to the storefront.
Sitting there for my biological relatives.
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