?Chapter 937:


    She didn’t remember packing any jewelry. She’d only taken the essentials.


    “It’s this amber pendant,” Lance said. “Has some kind of little metal piece inside. Looks almost like a tiny sh drive or something?” He tried to describe it, but he had no clue what it actually was.


    But the moment he said amber pendant, it all clicked for Ste like a bolt of lightning. “Oh! That’s the trinket my mom left me!” she gasped. “Lance, stash it somewhere safe for me, okay? I’lle by and grab it tomorrow.”


    After clocking out at the institute, Ste swung by the Carter family vi to pick up the suitcase she’d left behind—and figured she might as well stay for dinner while she was there.


    The atmosphere in the dining room wasn’t exactly buzzing, but at least it wasn’t painfully awkward. With Nina away, it was just Lance and Karson at the table with her, making small talk over dinner.


    Once the dishes were cleared, Ste headed upstairs to collect the suitcase she’d left behindst time. But before she made it halfway up, Lance called out from the couch in the living room.<fn7df8> Fresh chapters posted on F?ndNovel</fn7df8>


    He pulled a small velvet box from his pocket and handed it to her, speaking in a low voice. “Hey. This fell out of your suitcase earlier. It’s Mom’s old ne, right? I stuck it in here so it wouldn’t get lost.”


    Ste paused for a beat, then took the box and flipped it open. Inside was a delicate chain, ssic and elegant, with an amber pendant wrapped in a band of white gold. Under the warm light, it gave off a soft, almost ethereal glow. It was the only thing Ste had left from her birth mom. No real photos, no letters—just this.


    She carefully picked it up, the metal cool against her fingertips. And in that moment, something stirred in her—like a sudden wave of connection she couldn’t quite exin.


    Lance was watching her closely, his expression unreadable, like he was staring through her and seeing someone else entirely.


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    “Mom was… strong. Gentle, but tough when it counted,” he said quietly. “She was always swamped with work when I was a kid, but she still found time to be with us. Dad used to say I was a total menace back then. One time I cracked my head open messing around—shepletely lost it. Scooped me up crying and rushed me straight to the ER.”


    Ste didn’t know any of that. She was way younger than Lance, and by the time she was old enough to remember anything, their mom was already gone.


    Most of her memories came from her time with her adoptive parents. She had no idea why her mom had taken her and left Lance behind when she disappeared.


    Talking about their mom seemed to loosen something in Lance. His words had that raw edge—real, unfiltered emotion that only came from way back. Ste figured that was just how family worked. Even if they didn’t share much time, blood had a way of closing the distance.


    She sat there in silence, listening as Lance shared pieces of a past she couldn’t even picture. Absentmindedly, her fingers ran over the ne chain. Then, suddenly—she felt it. Her fingertip brushed against a tiny ridge on the back of the pendant.


    She froze. Was that real? Or was her mind ying tricks? Leaning in under the light, she spotted it—a slight bump, barely noticeable, but clearly out of ce. She kept her expression calm, same as before, and turned to Lance with a casual voice. “Thanks for finding this, Lance. I’ll make sure it stays safe. Gonna head up now and finish packing.”


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