I read it once, twice, a third time, each word sinking deeper into me like light flooding a room long kept in darkness. My fingers trembled. The phone slipped from my grip, landing on the couch beside me. I stared blankly ahead, and then the tears came, hot, uncontrollable, and silent at first until they weren’t.The sobs tore out of me without warning, raw and shaking as I buried my face in my hands. For the first time in so long, I wasn’t crying from pain or fear, but from joy, unfiltered, wild, overwhelming joy.“Vida? What happened?” she breathed, rushing toward me.“Talk to me, are you okay?” Melanie asked me.I couldn’t speak, could only nod through the tears, fumbling for the phone with trembling fingers and showing her the message.Her eyes scanned the screen, and her jaw dropped. For a second, she was completely still. Then her face exploded with excitement and she let out the loudest shriek I’d ever heard, throwing herself onto the couch and wrapping me in a hug so fierce I
Last Updated : 2026-05-26 Read more