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Chapter Twenty-Eight

Stella and I went shopping after she showed me the house. Little beads on the front of it swiveled in between my nervous fingers. The smooth texture eased my stress as the little orbs clanked together.

My stepmom had bought me a phone as well when we went to the mall, and showed me how to connect it to the security cameras that were strategically placed all around the house and property. She herself as an emergency contact on the device as well. A comfortable aroma settled me when she was near, reminding me on my mom. I felt like I could talk about anything with her for hours, and not once would she interrupt me.

There was not a speck of dust left in the house by the time we got through with cleaning it, gossiping all the while as I filled her in about my history with Seth. He had contacted her trying to reach out to me, funny enough. I did not have the energy to deal with that.

My dad came by to visit a few days after Stella and I scrubbed every corner. He was surprised to see the charms of the cottage back in shape. It has been weeks since then, and slowly but surely I have gotten used to living alone. I have been spending my time reading books and sunbathing in the backyard between tending to the garden. There was something comforting about taking care of flowers I planted, quenching the thirst of their roots and pulling little spouts of weeds that tried to grow in the mulch around them. It made me feel connected to my mother when my hands were in the dirt, arranging large rocks perfectly in circles around my work.

After father came to the house to cook dinner, I quickly found out he is a really good cook. Sometimes I would help him in the kitchen where he taught me how to prepare shrimp and steak and then grill it. The luxurious meats quickly became my favorite.

Stella and John would take turns checking in and spending one on one time with me. I had been putting off meeting my brother until I felt like I was mentally prepared to do so—whenever that may be. It was worrying that the little boy wouldn't like me, or that he would think I was weird. The best thing I could do is try to get back on track to being somewhat normal again.

Night terrors were still affecting me heavily and small noises make me freak out with the idea that it could be Lorenzo coming back for me. A therapist has been coming by weekly because I hate to leave the house. Thankfully, my dad caught on and has enough money to set up the sessions at my humble abode so I could be comfortable talking about what happened when I was kidnapped. Lisa is sweet, the older woman has helped me tremendously in the short amount of time I have been seeing her.

We have been working on rewiring my brain to modify emotional triggers—it has been a difficult and painful process, but the tactics have been working. Writing my feeling on paper really allowed me to get what troubled me of my system healthily. It was hard to do so with my left hand, but I made it work. During the therapy sessions, I couldn't help but wish I had a grandmother like Lisa.

I came to find out that my dad's mother passed away years ago, before I was even born. I have a grandfather, but he doesn't know about me yet. My dad told me that he lives in Florida and that the family flies out every month or so to see him. That was the last thing Lisa and I talked about, she thought it would be good for me to go with my family the next time they went.

"Jayden? Do you understand?"

"Oh- uh, Sorry." My head shook as I apologized, directing my attention to Diana.

I cleared my throat awkwardly as antsy fingers stopped fiddling with beads on the front my blouse. My cheeks burned from embarrassment.

"What did you say?"

Diana slit her eyes. "You will be testifying in court against Lorenzo tomorrow. I spoke with the hospital and medical evidence was provided."

A large, orange envelope slid across the cold metal table towards me.