And the echo she left behind? It wasn't a laugh.
That night, she couldn't sleep. She sat by the cold fireplace, holding the jade fox. The garnet eyes glinted in the light of her phone. On a whim, she searched the local archive. A single clipping from the Whitby Gazette popped up: "Runaway or Rescue? Foster Parents Questioned in Disappearance of Netta Ashford, 14." netta jade
"I'm not taking you," she whispered. "You belong here. You brought me home, just like you promised. But I think home is a place you build, not a place you find." And the echo she left behind
The next morning, she confronted him. "You know more than you're saying." 14." "I'm not taking you