Chapter 1: The Wedding That Never Finished
The ballroom fell into absolute silence.
No one reached for another glass.
No one applauded.
The string quartet lowered their bows.
The little girl stood frozen beside the shattered champagne flute, tears filling her wide hazel eyes.
She couldn't have been older than six.
She clutched the silver locket tightly against her chest.
The groom slowly knelt in front of her.
His hands were trembling.
"What... is your name?"
The little girl sniffled.
"Emma."
"And your mommy?"
She hesitated.
"She told me not to tell strangers."
The groom swallowed.
"I'm not a stranger."
"My name is Nathan."
Emma stared at him for several long seconds.
Then she whispered,
"My mommy cries when she says your name."
Nathan felt the room spin.
The bride, Victoria, stepped closer.
"Nathan..."
He barely heard her.
He carefully opened the tiny locket.
Inside was the same faded photograph he had placed there nine years earlier.
A picture of himself and his first wife, Lily, smiling on a beach during their honeymoon.
On the back, written in his own handwriting, were the words:
Forever begins with us.
Nathan closed the locket.
Only one person in the world could have owned it.
"Lily."
He looked at Emma.
"Is your mother's name Lily?"
Emma nodded.
"Yes."
The ballroom erupted into whispers.
"But..."
Nathan struggled to breathe.
"They told me she died."
Emma reached into her little backpack.
"My mommy said..."
"...if you ever recognized the necklace..."
"...to give you this."
She handed him a small white envelope.
Nathan broke the seal with shaking fingers.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Nathan,
If you're reading this, then fate finally brought Emma to you.
I never stopped loving you.
I never abandoned you.
I was taken away from you.
Everything you were told was a lie.
At the bottom was one address.
A quiet cottage outside Asheville, North Carolina.
Nathan looked up.
Without another word...
He removed his wedding ring.
Then turned toward Victoria.
May you like
"I'm sorry."
"But I have to know the truth."
