Chapter 22 - elena wanted her name back
The following months were about more than family.
They were about Elena rebuilding her identity.
Before she disappeared, she had worked with the therapy foundation.
She had created programs for children with disabilities.
Corinne had used those same programs to gain access to Sadie.
That history made Elena reluctant to return.
"I don't know if I can look at those files again."
"You don't have to."
"But I want to."
She looked at me.
"I don't want Corinne to be the last thing attached to my work."
That sentence stayed with me.
So we reopened the program.
Not under my name.
Not under Elena's.
Under the name of the families it served.
Elena began attending meetings again.
At first, she sat quietly.
Then she started asking questions.
Then she began proposing changes.
One afternoon, she came home smiling.
"What happened?"
"They approved the new accessibility program."
I smiled.
"Congratulations."
She shook her head.
"No."
She touched her chest.
"I did something today that I used to do before."
"What?"
"I disagreed with someone."
I laughed.
"That's your big achievement?"
"It is."
She smiled through tears.
"For the first time, I wasn't thinking about whether someone would punish me for having an opinion."
I understood.
Corinne had taken Elena's freedom long before she took her physical freedom.
May you like
Now Elena was taking it back piece by piece.
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