The eting soon ended. Three hours had passed without Stan noticing.
Ti always behaved differently in rooms where the decisions actually mattered, compressing and folding in on itself until minutes disappeared unnoticed.
With an acknowledging nod, he shook hands with Albrecht on the way out, exchanged a few productive words with Chen about the new escalation protocol, and accepted the quiet nods of acknowledgnt from the other senior figures as they headed toward the elevator bank.
Only after stepping into the corridor did he pull his phone from his jacket and unlock it.
The screen exploded with notifications.
He had silenced the device before entering the eting, as protocol required. There hadn’t been any reason to expect urgent calls, so the silence had felt routine.
Then his eyes landed on one particular notification. His stomach tightened upon reading it.
[10 Missed Calls — Sis Sacha]
Stan’s heart skipped.
’Ten missed calls????’
Ten missed calls from family had a universal effect on anyone who genuinely loved their family.
Sacha never called ten tis. In fact, she barely called twice in a week.
She was considerate to a fault, always assuming he was busy, always worried about inconveniencing him. Even when sothing important ca up, she’d usually send a ssage and wait patiently.
She would never call repeatedly unless sothing was wrong.
His mind imdiately raced through possibilities with cold efficiency. After all, he was afraid of the answer himself.
’Could it be her health deteriorated suddenly? Or was it an accident? A problem at work? The new house he bought for her recently? The new car he bought for her? Or was it so ergency he hadn’t foreseen?...’
Within just two seconds, his worried mind ca up with a dozen possibilities, and he didn’t like any of them.
However, before he could call back, the phone vibrated in his hand.
[Sis Sacha]
Taking a deep breath, he answered the call without hesitation.
"Stan! Stan! Guess what?!"
The voice that burst through the speaker was bright, practically vibrating with excitent.
Not fear, not panic, and definitely not grief as one would expect, but excitent. The kind of excitent that couldn’t be contained.
Relief hit him so hard his shoulders dropped.
’She’s fine.’
He leaned against the corridor wall and closed his eyes briefly.
For days since he appointed her manager of that Wanhai subsidiary, he’d been quietly keeping tabs on her life.
Not openly. Sacha would never have accepted that. But he knew things were finally getting better.
Her salary had risen from the barely survivable $2,500 a month she’d earned under the abusive manager he’d personally removed to nearly $50,000 a month in a position where she was actually respected.
She had a new house, a new car, and financial security, all of which he had barely managed to force her to accept not long after appointing her to managent. Now his sister had a proper future.
By any reasonable asure, she was finally living the life she should have had years ago.
Yet none of that had mattered during the thirty seconds between seeing ten missed calls and hearing her voice.
She was the only family he had left. The fear had been imdiate and absolute.
Stan released a long, dramatic sigh.
"There you go, sis. Scaring half to death with ten missed calls."
"Hehe, sorry, sorry! I just couldn’t wait. Guess what, Stan?"
"Sacha."
His tone was already resigned.
"You know I’m terrible at guessing."
"Don’t be such a killjoy, Stan. Co on. Guess."
Even though he could feel the excitent in her voice, he still couldn’t help but let out another sigh.
"I have no clues, Sacha. No context. I don’t even know what category we’re guessing in."
"Exactly! No hints."
He could practically hear the grin in her voice.
"Just guess why I’m calling. Guess why I’m so excited."
Despite himself, Stan smiled.
"Alright. Let’s see."
He pretended to think.
"You landed so huge project at work."
"Boooo. Wrong."
"Then maybe a promotion."
"Still wrong."
"A raise?"
"Stan."
She groaned dramatically.
"You’re making this very boring."
"Those are reasonable guesses."
"They’re boring guesses."
"That’s because I’m a boring person."
"No, you’re not. You’re just bad at this."
Stan laughed.
"Fine. I surrender."
"Nope. One more guess."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Then give a hint."
There was a brief pause.
When Sacha spoke again, her voice was softer, gentler, and almost reverent.
"Think further back."
Stan’s smile faded.
’Further back?’
That ant childhood. That ant years he rarely allowed himself to revisit.
"What about then?"
Another pause followed before she said a single na.
A na spoken with the care people reserved for things they’d carried in their hearts for years.
"Mia."
Stan froze.
For a mont, the corridor disappeared, the conversations, the elevators, the entire building.
Gone.
There was only that na.
Mia.
Nine years collapsed into a single heartbeat.
mories he hadn’t touched in nearly a decade stirred beneath the surface.
"Sacha."
His voice ca out quieter now. The humor was gone.
"Mia?"
"Yes."
Her excitent returned, but now it carried sothing deeper beneath it. Sothing almost disbelieving.
"Yes, Stan. Mia."
He said nothing.
His grip tightened around the phone.
After nine years, the na still had that effect. Still carried that weight. Still reached places inside him no one else could.
Sacha took a breath, then the words she’d been trying to say all afternoon finally burst out.
"I found her."
Then silence hit again.
"I finally found her, Stan."
Sacha’s voice ca again.
His heart stopped.
"I have her location."
Another breath.
"And her family’s location."
The world seed to narrow around him.
After all this ti, after nine years, they finally knew where Mia was.
For a long mont, Stan didn’t trust himself to speak.
mories surfaced with startling clarity, like photographs spilling from a drawer that hadn’t been opened in years.
The little park near their old apartnt.
Sacha trailing a few steps behind, keeping an eye on the two younger children without ever making it obvious.
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