Chapter 1: The Name They Erased
The ballroom fell into absolute silence.
No violin.
No whispered conversations.
Only the faint hum of the crystal chandeliers overhead.
Margaret Lancaster, the groom's mother, stared at the bridesmaid as if she had seen a ghost.
"What did you say?"
The young woman slipped her phone back into her pocket.
"I said I'm the daughter your family erased."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
The groom, Ethan Lancaster, looked from his mother to his grandfather.
"Grandfather..."
The old man's face had turned completely pale.
He slowly lowered himself into a chair.
"Her name..."
He whispered it before anyone else could.
"Amelia."
The bridesmaid nodded.
"Yes."
"My name is Amelia Carter."
"Twelve years ago, it was Amelia Lancaster."
Every guest froze.
Margaret immediately recovered.
"This is absurd."
"I've never seen this woman before."
Amelia smiled sadly.
"I expected you to say that."
At that moment, every screen surrounding the ballroom flickered to life.
The presentation prepared for the wedding disappeared.
In its place appeared an old family photograph.
A little girl stood between Margaret and the Lancaster patriarch, smiling with two missing front teeth.
May you like
The little girl was unmistakably Amelia.
No one in the room spoke.
