LAURA'S MOM'S POV
The walls of Correctional Facility were cold, grey, and pitifully silent—nothing like the storm thundering in my chest.
I walked slowly past the glass security doors, the tightness in my chest coiling with every step. My boots clicked sharply against the concrete floor, echoing like gunfire. Each sound reminded me of the time I lost. Of the years stolen.
They’d said I wasn’t strong enough yet.
They told me I should rest. Heal.
But they didn’t know the kind of fire that had kept me alive all those years in that hellish man-cave. They didn’t know what it took to survive when your bones froze and your screams died before reaching the trees.
They didn’t know what betrayal did to a woman like me.
“Visitor cleared,” a guard muttered behind me.
I lifted my head.
There s
