CHAPTER 2 : THE WOMAN WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD
Rain hammered against the windows of Dominic's black sedan as it raced across Boston.
Lily sat beside him, clutching his hand.
"Will Mama be okay?"
Dominic looked out the window.
"I won't let her die."
For the first time in thirty years, he prayed that wasn't a lie.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at Hart Flowers.
The front window had been shattered.
Flower pots lay overturned across the sidewalk.
The OPEN sign flickered weakly.
Dominic stepped inside.
The smell of roses mixed with blood.
Then he saw her.
A woman lay unconscious behind the counter.
Dark hair.
Pale skin.
Blood on her forehead.
For a moment, Dominic couldn't breathe.
She looked exactly like Rose.
Not similar.
Not close.
Exactly.
Lily ran forward.
"Mama!"
The woman slowly opened her eyes.
Her vision was blurry.
Then she saw Dominic.
The color drained from her face.
"No..."
Tears immediately filled her eyes.
"Dominic?"
The room froze.
Even Dominic's bodyguards exchanged stunned looks.
"You know me?"
The woman began crying.
Not from pain.
From relief.
"My God."
She reached toward him.
"You finally found us."
Dominic felt his world tilting.
"Who are you?"
The woman swallowed hard.
"My name is Grace."
She looked at Lily.
Then back at Dominic.
"And I'm your daughter."
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Dominic staggered backward.
Thirty years.
Thirty years believing his wife and child had died.
And now his daughter was sitting in front of him.
Alive.
Before he could speak, Grace whispered something that changed everything.
"It wasn't an accident."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"What wasn't?"
"The fire."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
May you like
"Someone in your family ordered it."
TO BE CONTINUED...
