Chapter 54 The taste of Goodbye

Katelyn’s POV It had been a week. Seven days since the hospital. Seven days since I discovered that I wasn’t Marcus’s daughter. That I wasn’t Barbara’s. That I had no idea who I was. Each morning, I woke up hoping that maybe, just maybe it had all been a fever dream. That the truth would dissolve with sleep. But it never did. The reality clung to me like a cold mist, seeping into everything. So I stayed indoors. I didn’t speak much. I didn’t eat much. The world outside moved on, and I let it. Rachel had tried everything, warm hugs, long talks, favorite snacks, but I refused it all. When she knocked on my door that morning, bright and hopeful, I already knew what she was going to say. “Come out with me today,” she offered gently, poking her head into my room. “Fresh air might help.” I turned my face away from the sunlight spilling through the curtains. “I’m not ready,” I murmured. There was a pause, and then she said, “Okay. I didn’t come alone.” Before I could ask what she meant, the d