<\/p>\n
Destiny stopped in her tracks.<\/p>\n
The well-dressed man smiled and extended his hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s good to finally meet you.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo I know you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot personally,\u201d he replied. \u201cBut I’ve known about you for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement immediately caught her attention.<\/p>\n
The man opened his leather bag and carefully removed an old envelope.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother asked me to give this to you when the time was right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Destiny’s heart skipped a beat.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe trusted me with it before she passed away.\u201d<\/p>\n
With trembling hands, Destiny accepted the envelope.<\/p>\n
Inside was a photograph and a handwritten letter.<\/p>\n
The moment she saw the picture, she froze.<\/p>\n
It showed her mother standing beside a smiling man she had never seen before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is he?\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n
The man in the suit looked at her carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Destiny’s eyes widened.<\/p>\n
Her mother had never spoken about him.<\/p>\n
Not once.<\/p>\n
She quickly unfolded the letter.<\/p>\n
The first line made her breath catch.<\/p>\n
“If you’re reading this, then the day has finally come for you to learn the truth.”<\/em><\/p>\n Destiny struggled to hold back tears.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere is he now?\u201d<\/p>\n The suited man hesitated.<\/p>\n \u201cFor many years, nobody knew.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen why are you here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause this morning we found him.\u201d<\/p>\n Destiny looked up immediately.<\/p>\n \u201cYou found my father?\u201d<\/p>\n The man nodded slowly.<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n At that exact moment, back inside the diner, the bearded man quietly finished the last bite of breakfast.<\/p>\n The waitress approached to collect the plate.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you,\u201d he said softly.<\/p>\n She smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cYou’re welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n The man reached into his worn coat and pulled out a small silver locket.<\/p>\n \u201cCan I ask you something?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n He opened the locket.<\/p>\n Inside was a faded picture of a little girl.<\/p>\n The waitress stared at it.<\/p>\n Something about the image felt strangely familiar.<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve been looking for her for twenty years,\u201d the man said.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was taken from me when she was very young.\u201d<\/p>\n The waitress looked at him sympathetically.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope you find her.\u201d<\/p>\n The man’s eyes filled with sadness.<\/p>\n \u201cSo do I.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside, Destiny’s hands shook.<\/p>\n \u201cCan I see him?\u201d<\/p>\n The suited man looked away.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere is he?\u201d<\/p>\n He pointed across the street.<\/p>\n Toward the diner.<\/p>\n Destiny frowned.<\/p>\n \u201cMy father is in there?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n Without another word, she hurried toward the entrance.<\/p>\n Her heart pounded harder with every step.<\/p>\n Inside, the waitress turned and watched as the bearded man stood to leave.<\/p>\n Then the front door suddenly opened.<\/p>\n Destiny stepped inside.<\/p>\n The man glanced toward the entrance.<\/p>\n Everything stopped.<\/p>\n The locket slipped from his hand and hit the floor.<\/p>\n His eyes widened.<\/p>\n Destiny stared back at him.<\/p>\n The resemblance was impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n The waitress looked from one to the other in shock.<\/p>\n The bearded man’s voice cracked.<\/p>\n \u201cDestiny…?\u201d<\/p>\n Tears instantly filled her eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do you know my name?\u201d<\/p>\n The man could barely speak.<\/p>\n Because after twenty years of searching, the daughter he thought he had lost forever was standing right in front of him.<\/p>\n To be continued…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Destiny stopped in her tracks. The well-dressed man smiled and extended his hand. \u201cIt’s good to finally meet you.\u201d She looked confused. \u201cDo I know you?\u201d \u201cNot personally,\u201d he replied. \u201cBut I’ve known about you for many years.\u201d The statement immediately caught her attention. The man opened his leather bag and carefully removed an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}