Chapter 1 – The Door Opens
Chapter 1 – The Door Opens
Walter wrapped both hands around the cold metal handle but didn't pull immediately.
Instead, he closed his eyes.
Just for a second.
It looked less like an employee opening a rental unit...
...and more like a man asking forgiveness.
Then the door rolled upward.
The old steel groaned loudly, echoing through Row B.
Adrian expected to find furniture.
Boxes.
Old appliances.
Something ordinary.
Instead...
The unit looked nothing like storage.
A faded blue rug covered the concrete floor.
A small wooden bookshelf stood against one wall, filled with children's books whose corners had been repaired with clear tape.
A secondhand sofa sat beneath a tiny window fan.
There was a folding table with two chairs.
A microwave.
A coffee maker.
Plastic containers stacked neatly on metal shelves.
Everything was clean.
Everything had a place.
The air smelled faintly of laundry detergent and lavender.
And in the far corner...
A little girl was coloring on a sheet of paper.
She couldn't have been older than six.
Brown curls framed her tiny face.
She wore oversized headphones while quietly drawing with worn crayons.
When she noticed strangers standing in the doorway, she froze.
The crayon slipped from her fingers.
She quickly stood and instinctively stepped in front of an older woman sitting in a wheelchair.
The woman looked pale.
Thin.
An oxygen tube rested beneath her nose.
She struggled to breathe but still forced herself to smile.
"You must be Mr. Vale," she whispered.
Adrian didn't answer.
His eyes swept across the room.
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Every inch had been transformed into a home.
A home inside a storage unit.
