Kaleb and Jenifer flanked them, faces softened by the same awe. Servants wiped their eyes in the corners of the room; even those who had watched Rita from a distance felt the moment as something sacred, as if a long-hidden wound had finally been bound.
Rita sank into her parents’ arms, the improbable truth settling into her bones. Memories might remain blank, and years could not be returned, but she had at last been found. The thought steadied her like a warm hand on a cold night.
Around them, the house hummed with cautious celebration—whispers of plans, promises to search for answers, and vows to make up for the lost years. For the first time in a decade, Rita allowed herself to imagine a future threaded with the names she had only just learned to speak.
When it became clear that Rita was a true Thompson, Kaleb, Edgar, and Elsie were overwhelmed by the sheer impossibility of it all—fate’s twisted design finally revealed. All three wept openly, unable to contain the torrent of emotion. Their hearts shattered for Rita, who had wandered alone through so many lost years, yet gratitude flooded them just as fiercely. Heaven had returned her to them in the most astonishing way imaginable.
Jenifer was beside herself with joy. She seized Rita’s hand, her face radiant.
“This is unbelievable! We were best friends before, and now we’re actually family! You’re my children’s aunt!”
Rita had been crying only moments earlier, but Jenifer’s contagious excitement coaxed a laugh from her through the tears still clinging to her cheeks.
“Oh, wait—” Jenifer’s expression shifted, growing suddenly grave.
“Do you still remember nothing about what happened ten years ago?”
The question hung in the air like a blade. Kaleb, Edgar, and Elsie fell silent, their eager gazes boring into Rita with barely restrained desperation. Whatever answer she gave, they were determined to unearth the truth about the switch at birth and every agonizing detail of the life she’d been forced to endure since.
Rita sifted through her fragmented memories carefully and released a defeated sigh.
“I still can’t remember a single thing.”
.cóm is the source
Disappointment washed over them. Then Rita spoke again, her voice dropping to something quieter, more hesitant.
“But there’s something I can’t hide from you anymore.”
“What is it?” Jenifer leaned forward.
Rita bit her lower lip, wrestling with the decision for only a heartbeat before choosing honesty.
“Even though my memories haven’t returned, I discovered something extraordinary today. I have a husband, a son, and a daughter—and I actually met my daughter earlier.”
The revelation detonated like a bomb. Kaleb, Jenifer, Edgar, and Elsie gaped, their eyes widening in perfect synchronization. Rita had lived under their roof for ten years, and none of them had ever suspected she had a family out there.
“You—you have a family?” Jenifer burst out, almost tripping over her words.
.
.
.