But Rebecca continued.
Three days after leaving the hospital, the shelter learned Owen had located one of Rebecca's friends.
They moved her immediately.
She was given a new surname.
Then another.
No phone.
No contact with home.
It was supposed to last months.
It lasted nearly two years.
By then Owen had been arrested in another state for assaulting someone else.
Rebecca tried to find Zane.
The number she had no longer worked.
She wrote to the hospital.
It had closed its maternity wing.
Helen Ward had moved.
Then Rebecca made her own terrible decision.
She became afraid that returning would destroy Emily's stable life.
So she waited.
One year.
Then five.
Then ten.
“I was ashamed.”
Rebecca whispered.
“I kept telling myself you probably had parents who loved you.”
Emily's eyes shifted toward me.
“I did.”
Rebecca nodded, crying.
“Good.”
No jealousy.
No claim.
Just good.
That word broke something open inside me.
