Chapter 2 – The Woman Noah Wouldn't Look Away From
The music continued.
Champagne glasses clinked.
Someone laughed a little too loudly near the orchestra.
Yet for Logan Mercer...
...the entire ballroom had gone silent.
He followed Noah's frightened stare.
Across the polished marble floor, between clusters of guests dressed in diamonds and tailored suits, stood a young woman in a simple black server's uniform.
She couldn't have been older than twenty-six.
Dark hair tied into a neat bun.
No jewelry.
No makeup beyond what little sleep had left her.
She carried an empty silver tray against her hip, almost invisible among the glittering crowd.
Almost.
The moment her eyes met Noah's...
...she stopped walking.
Only for a heartbeat.
Long enough for Logan to notice.
Then she lowered her gaze and continued toward the kitchen as though nothing had happened.
Noah suddenly squeezed Logan's fingers so tightly his tiny knuckles turned white.
His lips parted.
His throat moved.
Logan leaned down instinctively.
"What is it, buddy?"
The little boy's chest rose and fell in tiny uneven breaths.
Then...
For the first time in nearly eight months...
A sound escaped him.
Not a sentence.
Not even a word.
Just one trembling whisper.
"...Mama..."
Logan froze.
The world seemed to tilt beneath his feet.
Vanessa looked down sharply.
"What did he say?"
Logan barely heard her.
His heartbeat thundered inside his ears.
Noah had spoken.
Not to him.
Not to a doctor.
Not after endless therapy sessions.
But now.
Looking at a stranger.
Vanessa's expression hardened for only a fraction of a second before her practiced smile returned.
"You imagined it."
"I heard him," Logan whispered.
"He spoke."
Vanessa laughed softly.
"It was a random sound."
"No."
Logan's voice was firmer now.
"He said something."
Across the room, the waitress disappeared through the service doors.
Noah immediately tried to pull away.
Tiny feet stumbling forward.
Arms reaching toward the kitchen.
His breathing became desperate.
Logan had never seen him move toward anyone before.
Never.
"Dada..."
The whisper came again.
Broken.
Painfully quiet.
"...Mama..."
Every hair on Logan's neck stood up.
May you like
Who was that woman?
And why did his son look at her as though he'd found someone he'd been searching for his entire life?
