Chapter 58: Acceptance

Ashley’s POV

I turned back to the official, her face tight with a mixture of professionalism and pity. I hated it. I hated that look, that way people start to treat you like you’re broken before you even are. Her lips were moving, but I only caught fragments of the words.

“We don’t want to give you false hope,” she said, her voice cautious, careful, the way people speak when they’re afraid you might shatter at any moment. “But we will be conducting a manifest review. We’ll need a DNA sample from you to compare with the remains of the crash, to see if we can confirm that she did take the flight.”

Remains. The word hit me like a slap. I blinked, my body numb, my brain scrambling to keep up. It was like she was speaking through water, the sound distorted, far away. She kept talking, saying something about procedures, but I couldn’t hear her anymore. The walls of the room were closing in, the air too thick, my chest too tight.

“I need to use the restroom,” I blurted out, the words tumblin