Chapter 1: The Locket
The ballroom fell into absolute silence.
The bride stared at the tiny silver locket resting in her trembling hands.
Inside was a faded photograph.
Two little girls.
One was unmistakably her.
Eight years old.
Wearing a blue birthday dress.
The other child smiled beside her, wearing the exact same silver locket around her neck.
Emily's breathing became uneven.
"No..."
She looked at the maid again.
The same warm brown eyes.
The tiny crescent-shaped birthmark behind her left ear.
A memory she hadn't visited in over twenty years suddenly rushed back.
A little sister named Lily.
The child who disappeared during a crowded charity festival after a devastating apartment fire.
Everyone believed she had died.
Emily slowly stepped closer.
"What... is your name?"
The maid hesitated.
"My name is Grace."
"Grace Carter."
Emily swallowed hard.
"Did anyone ever call you Lily?"
Grace froze.
Only one person had ever known that nickname.
"My sister did."
The bouquet slipped from Emily's hands.
Tears filled her eyes.
"Oh my God..."
"You are Lily."
The guests gasped.
The groom stood speechless.
Grace shook her head.
"No..."
"My sister died."
Emily slowly reached into her wedding purse.
She removed another faded photograph she had carried since childhood.
It showed the same two little girls.
The same birthday.
The same dresses.
Only this photograph had been torn in half years ago.
Grace stared at it.
May you like
Then quietly touched the edge of her own locket.
Neither woman could speak.
