My chest tightened until I could barely breathe.

“You’re… my mother?”

Tears filled her eyes as she nodded.

I stood frozen at the foot of the bed. “I don’t remember you.”

“I know.”

Her voice broke. “You were just a baby when my parents made me give you up. I didn’t understand what I was signing. I was only 18, and when they told me it was temporary, I believed them.”

She sobbed softly.

“By the time I tried to fight it, the records were sealed,” she said. “I became a ghost to the system.”

I wanted to be angry. I wanted to protect myself. For years, I had told myself I didn’t need anyone.

But she looked at me like I was everything.

“I kept your baby blanket,” she whispered. “It’s in that drawer. I brought it with me when I was admitted. I wanted it near me at the end.”

I walked slowly to the bedside table.

Inside the drawer was a small, faded blue blanket, frayed at the edges.

“I never stopped being your mother,” she said. “Not in my heart. I loved you always, even when you were taken from me.”

Something inside me broke open.

All those years of pretending I didn’t care? It wasn’t true. I was just a kid who thought he wasn’t worth keeping.

I wiped my face, embarrassed to cry in front of someone who felt like a stranger, even if she wasn’t.

“I don’t know what to say,” I admitted.

“You don’t owe me anything, Logan,” she said quickly. “If this is too much, I understand. I just wanted to see you once more.”

I looked down at my suit, and suddenly I understood why Anna had done this. She hadn’t tried to deceive me—she had tried to heal me before I stepped into a new life.

She wanted me to walk into our marriage without that shadow.

I stepped closer and took a breath.

“I’m getting married today.”

My voice faltered. “Would you like to come?”

Her eyes widened. “To your wedding? Right now?”

“If you feel strong enough. It’s just down the hall in the chapel.”

She nodded eagerly, tears falling freely. “I would love that more than anything.”

I stepped back into the hallway. Anna was still there, twisting her hands, staring at the floor.

For the first time since I’d known her, she looked unsure.

Like she expected me to walk away.

I stopped in front of her. She looked up, searching my face.

“You were right,” I said.