Chapter 1 - THE SOUND THAT STOPPED THE WEDDING
The wedding dress ripped before the priest could finish his sentence.
RIIIP.
Three hundred guests gasped at once.
Emily Carter stumbled backward, clutching the torn lace against her chest.
Standing inches away from her was Eleanor Whitmore.
The groom’s mother.
One of the richest women in Boston.
And the woman who had spent three years trying to destroy Emily’s relationship with her son.
“Take that cheap costume off,” Eleanor snapped.
Emily stared at her.
“You just ripped my wedding dress.”
“I’m saving my son from the worst mistake of his life.”
Daniel Whitmore rushed between them.
“Mom, what the hell is wrong with you?”
Eleanor didn’t even look at him.
Her eyes stayed fixed on Emily.
“You will never be a Whitmore.”
Daniel grabbed his mother’s wrist.
“You’re done.”
“No, Daniel.”
“Yes.”
His voice shook with anger.
“You walked into my wedding and attacked my wife.”
“She is not your wife yet.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“She will be.”
Eleanor’s face hardened.
Not even humiliation in front of hundreds of people had stopped her.
She reached for Emily’s dress again.
Emily jerked away.
But Eleanor’s fingers caught the lace near her waist.
The fabric tore a second time.
Something small dropped from beneath the lining.
Click.
The sound was quiet.
But somehow everyone heard it.
A green pendant landed on the white marble floor.
Emily looked down.
Eleanor did too.
And the color drained from Eleanor’s face.
Her lips parted.
“No.”
Emily slowly picked up the pendant.
It was an oval piece of dark green jade surrounded by a thin gold frame.
She had worn it for as long as she could remember.
The woman who had raised her told her it was the only thing she had when she was found as a baby.
Eleanor stared at it.
Her hands began trembling.
Daniel noticed.
“Mom?”
Eleanor didn’t answer.
She took one step toward Emily.
“Turn it over.”
Emily frowned.
“What?”
“Turn it over.”
Her voice was no longer angry.
It was terrified.
Emily flipped the pendant.
A tiny symbol had been carved into the back.
A crescent moon surrounded by three stars.
Eleanor grabbed the edge of the altar.
“Oh my God.”
Daniel looked between them.
“What is happening?”
Eleanor whispered, “That pendant was made twenty-five years ago.”
Emily felt a chill climb her spine.
“For who?”
Eleanor slowly raised her eyes.
“For my daughter.”
Silence swallowed the ballroom.
Emily stopped breathing.
Daniel’s face went blank.
“You never told me you had a daughter.”
Eleanor barely seemed to hear him.
She stepped closer to Emily.
Her eyes moved over Emily’s face as though seeing it for the first time.
The cheekbones.
The gray-green eyes.
The tiny dimple near her mouth.
Then Eleanor whispered the words that shattered the wedding.
“My daughter disappeared when she was six weeks old.”
Emily’s fingers tightened around the pendant.
“My foster mother said I was found when I was six weeks old.”
Eleanor’s knees buckled.
Daniel caught her.
Emily backed away.
“No.”
Eleanor looked at her with tears gathering in her eyes.
“Emily…”
“No.”
“I think you’re my daughter.”
Emily shook her head violently.
“You hated me.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You called me trash.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You tried to rip my wedding dress off my body in front of everyone!”
Eleanor’s voice broke.
“I didn’t know!”
Emily stared at her.
Then she noticed something.
Behind Eleanor, near the ballroom doors, an elderly man in a gray suit had gone completely still.
Eleanor’s longtime family attorney.
Victor Shaw.
He was staring at the jade pendant too.
But unlike Eleanor, he didn’t look shocked.
He looked afraid.
Emily pointed at him.
“Why is he looking at this like he’s seen it before?”
Eleanor turned.
Victor immediately stepped backward.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“Victor?”
Victor reached for the door.
Eleanor whispered, “Don’t let him leave.”
May you like
Victor ran.
And Daniel went after him.
