The night I discovered a newborn baby abandoned in the pouring rain changed the course of my life forever. I could never have imagined that decades later, the very man who left her would return with a demand I never anticipated.
I never thought my life would unravel like this. Even now, as I sit here recalling every detail, my hands tremble slightly above the keys. It all began over twenty years ago, on a night that seemed ordinary at first—yet it became the night that altered everything I knew about love, loss, and hope.
Almost 23 years ago, I was 44, barely coping with the sudden death of my husband, Alaric. Our marriage had been filled with laughter, warmth, and music, until a heart attack stole him from me in his sleep. With him went the rhythm and joy of our home, leaving behind an emptiness I could not fill.