Aliya (4)

Samantha was not an ungrateful child and would forever be appreciative of the fact that she had been adopted. In fact, she still remembered the day that she had been chosen.

Samantha remembered that day when she was adopted as vividly as if it had just happened. How could she not? It was the most life-changing moment of her young life then. Every detail was etched into her mind—the sound of Madam Ruby's signature stomping on the polished floor, the faint smell of jasmine perfume, which she had no idea whom it belonged to, and the gentle hum of voices in the room. But more than anything, she remembered her.

Samantha could still picture the way her new mother had walked into the biggest room they had in the orphanage, her presence warm and calm yet commanding. The woman, whom she had leaned over the next few years to call Mum, had knelt to her level, meeting her wide, uncertain eyes, and smiled.