Finally,I have you

Chapter One — The House That Never Felt Like HomeStella Kundwa stood in front of the small mirror hanging on the wall and slowly tied her hair back.The room was quiet.Too quiet.She looked at herself for a moment before lowering her eyes.At twenty-three, Stella had learned how to hide many things behind a calm face.She could hide exhaustion.She could hide sadness.She could even hide fear.But there was one thing she could never hide completely.The loneliness in her eyes.She touched the small bracelet around her wrist.It was old.The silver had lost some of its shine, and there were tiny scratches across it, but Stella never took it off.She had owned it for as long as she could remember.Or at least, that was what she had been told.Her mother had given it to her when she was a little girl.That was the only memory Stella had of her mother.A warm hand.A gentle voice.And a bracelet placed carefully around her tiny wrist.Then everything had changed.Stella had been eight years old when her life fell apart.Her mother died, and not long afterward, Stella was separated from her older brother, Nathan.Nathan had been twelve.They had promised each other they would never forget one another.But promises made by children could not always defeat the decisions of adults.Fifteen years had passed.Fifteen years without Nathan.Five years since their mother’s death.And Stella still wondered whether her brother remembered her.She looked at the bracelet again.“Do you remember me?” she whispered.A knock suddenly came from the door.Stella quickly stopped thinking.“Stella!”She recognized the voice.Deborah.Her stepmother.Stella opened the door.Deborah stood outside with her arms crossed.“Are you done?”“Almost.”“Almost?”Deborah looked past her into the room.“You know the house doesn’t clean itself.”“I know.”“Then why are you standing here?”Stella lowered her eyes.“I’m sorry.”Deborah walked away without answering.Stella took a deep breath.She grabbed her small bag and left the room.Downstairs, Chloe was sitting comfortably on the sofa, scrolling through her phone.Chloe was twenty-five, two years older than Stella, and Deborah’s biological daughter.She looked at Stella and smiled.Not a kind smile.A mocking one.“You’re going to work again?”“Yes.”“Must be nice.”Stella stopped.“What do you mean?”Chloe shrugged.“Nothing.”Stella didn’t answer.She had learned long ago that arguing with Chloe only created more problems.She walked toward the door.Behind her, Deborah called out.“Stella!”She turned.“Yes?”“Don’t forget to clean the kitchen when you come back.”Stella nodded.“Okay.”Then she left.Outside, the morning air felt different.For a few minutes, Stella could breathe.She walked toward the bus stop, holding her bag tightly.She didn’t have much.A few clothes.A little money.Her old bracelet.And dreams she wasn’t sure she was allowed to have.But she kept walking.Because no matter how difficult life became, Stella refused to give up on herself.⸻Chapter Two — Fifteen Years LaterNathan Ngabo Nziza sat quietly inside his car.He was twenty-seven now.Successful.Well dressed.Calm.At least, that’s what everyone thought.He stared through the window at the busy street.People were walking everywhere.Cars passed.Children laughed.Life continued.But Nathan’s mind was somewhere else.It was always somewhere else.His mother’s photograph sat on the passenger seat beside him.He picked it up.She was smiling in the picture.His mother had always smiled like that.Even when life was difficult.Even when she was tired.Nathan remembered her voice.He remembered her hands.He remembered Stella.His little sister.A tiny girl who used to follow him everywhere.She had been eight when they were separated.He had been twelve.He remembered the day clearly.He remembered Stella crying.He remembered promising her that he would come back.But he never did.Not because he didn’t want to.Because circumstances had taken him somewhere else.Years passed.Nathan searched whenever he could.But every path seemed to end.His mother died five years ago, carrying secrets Nathan never understood.And now, after all these years, Nathan had returned.He didn’t know what he expected to find.Maybe nothing.Maybe only memories.But deep inside, one thought had never disappeared.Where is Stella?He placed the photograph back on the seat.“I’ll find you,” he whispered.⸻Chapter Three — A StrangerStella finished work late that evening.Her feet hurt.Her shoulders were tired.She had spent the entire day working, and all she wanted was to go home and sleep.But she knew what was waiting for her.Dishes.Cleaning.Questions.Complaints.She walked slowly along the road.The sun was disappearing behind the buildings when she suddenly heard someone call out.“Excuse me.”Stella turned.A man stood a few steps away.He looked around twenty-seven.He was holding a wallet.“Did you drop this?”Stella looked down.Her wallet wasn’t there.She checked her bag.Then she realized something.“My bracelet.”The bracelet was missing.Her heart jumped.