CHAPTER 52 THE LOST AND FOUND COUSIN

Dominic Pov The knock on my door came late in the evening, a sharp rap that cut through my apartment's stillness. I wasn't expecting anyone, and the sudden noise jolted me away from my thoughts. I approached the door cautiously, the weight of the day's strange events still on my mind. When I opened it, my heart nearly stopped. Standing in the dim hallway light, I saw a face I hadn't seen in years. My cousin, Elizabeth, had gone missing when we were both teenagers. Her long brown hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders, and her eyes, the same deep green that I remembered, sparkled with joy and sadness. "Dominic," she said, her voice a breathless whisper. "It's me." I could only stare momentarily, my disbelief warring with overwhelming emotion. Betty, as I fondly call her, had been more than a cousin to me; she had been my confidant, my closest friend, and the one person who understood me completely. And then she vanished, leaving a gaping hole in my life. "Betty," I m