I hesitated. Then I stepped forward and placed the necklace down.
“I need to sell this.”
He barely looked at it at first.
Then he froze.
His eyes locked onto the necklace. His hands stopped moving.
Color drained from his face so fast it scared me.
“Where did you get this?” he asked, barely above a whisper.
“It was my grandmother’s,” I said. “I just need enough for rent.”
“What was her name?”
“Merinda L.”
Something changed in his face.
“Miss… you need to sit down.”
My stomach dropped.
“Is it fake?”
He shook his head slowly.
“No. It’s real.”
Before I could say anything else, he grabbed a phone and dialed fast.
“I have it,” he said. “The necklace. She’s here.”
I took a step back.
“Who are you calling?”
He covered the phone and looked at me like he’d seen a ghost.
“Miss… someone has been looking for you for twenty years.”
My heart started racing.
“What are you talking about?”
Before he could answer, I heard a click behind the back door.
It opened.
And when I saw who walked in, I stopped breathing.
“Desiree…?”
