Chapter 324: Fear And Guilt
The door opened, and Richard and Marianne Thomas stepped inside.
Melody straightened instinctively, the half opened breakfast tray resting forgotten on her lap. Her heart thudded painfully, a drumbeat of dread and guilt. She forced her shoulders to relax, pushing a tentative smile to her lips as her eyes flicked between the couple.
Adam, now standing beside her, gave a polite, almost formal nod in their direction. "Mr. and Mrs. Thomas,this is your daughter. Melanie. This should be your official meeting, I guess."
Melody’s breath hitched. That name felt foreign to her but she had no choice. She looked up at them and said softly, "Mama... Papa..." Even though that is what she had called them all her life, seeing them now, she knew she could not easily call them that.
She watched their faces closely. It felt strange to say those words with such tentative distance.
She had to pretend to be unsure of what to call them.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to wonder if what she said was right or wrong. Because in the next minute, Richard Thomas stepped forward, his face lit with emotion. There was a tremble in his voice as he reached out to her.
"Oh, my sweet girl..." he whispered, pulling her into a hug before she could even fully rise from the bed. "I thought we’d lost you forever. I had given up hope-every lead we chased led to nothing... and then suddenly, here you are."
He pulled her close, his embrace solid and trembling all at once. Melody hugged him back, arms wrapping around his shoulders as guilt battered in her chest.
He didn’t know that the daughter he wanted to hug was already taken from him even before she could return here.