The months that followed in the Ravenstrong mansion were filled with laughter and the kind of warmth she had only dreamed about. The sound of it echoed through the marble halls and spilled into the garden where the morning light touched everything in gold. For the first time in her young life, Carla felt truly safe.
She woke up each day to the scent of breakfast waiting on the long dining table, to the soft voices of her new parents calling her name. Sometimes her new mommy would brush her hair while humming a song, and her new daddy would lift her up just to make her laugh. Every little moment felt unreal, as if she had stepped into the kind of story she used to imagine before falling asleep at the orphanage.
