She motioned toward a chair. “Sit down. Please.”
I obeyed, unsettled by her tone.
“What I’m about to tell you… your grandmother never got the chance to explain.”
A cold feeling spread through me.
“She wasn’t your biological grandmother,” Desiree said gently.
I shook my head. “No. She raised me. She—”
“I know,” Desiree said quickly. “And she loved you. That part was real. Every bit of it.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“Years ago, your Nana found you.”
My mind went blank.
“Found me?”
“In the bushes,” Desiree said softly. “Near a walking path she used to take home. You were a baby, wrapped carefully, with that necklace around your neck.”
I stared at her.
“That’s not possible.”
“It is,” she said. “She brought you to me first. She didn’t know what to do. There was no note, no identification. Just you… and that necklace.”
“She tried to find your family,” Desiree continued. “We both did. We checked reports, asked questions, followed every lead. But nothing matched. No name, no details.”
“So she just… kept me?”
“She did everything properly,” Desiree assured. “Legal channels, paperwork. Eventually… you became hers.”
My throat tightened. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Because she didn’t want you to feel like you didn’t belong.”
