CHAPTER 2 THE SECRET HIDDEN IN THE ADOPTION FILE
The church remained silent.
Nobody cared about the wedding anymore.
The guests were staring at the bride.
And at Victoria.
A mother and daughter separated for twenty years.
The groom looked like his entire world had been turned upside down.
"What do you mean I'm adopted?" he asked.
Victoria wiped tears from her face.
She had spent two decades hiding that truth.
Not because she was ashamed.
Because she was afraid.
Afraid that one day she would lose another child.
"You were five years old when I adopted you," she whispered.
"Your parents died in a car accident."
The groom staggered backward.
His hands trembled.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you became my son."
Victoria's voice broke.
"I loved you from the first day."
The groom looked away.
Part of him was angry.
Part of him understood.
But before anyone could say another word, an elderly man suddenly stood from the third row of guests.
His face had gone pale.
The bride immediately recognized him.
"Mr. Thompson?"
He was the director of the orphanage where she had spent her childhood.
The old man looked terrified.
Victoria noticed.
"What's wrong?"
The man swallowed hard.
Then he spoke the sentence that changed everything.
"She wasn't lost."
The church exploded with whispers.
Victoria froze.
"What?"
The old man's eyes filled with guilt.
"Your daughter wasn't lost."
"Then where was she?"
The man lowered his head.
"She was taken."
A collective gasp swept through the room.
The bride's knees nearly gave out.
Victoria grabbed a pew to steady herself.
"Taken by who?"
The old man began crying.
"For twenty years I've wanted to tell the truth."
His voice shook violently.
"The woman who brought her to the orphanage paid us to keep quiet."
Victoria's heart pounded.
"Who was she?"
The man pointed toward the church entrance.
Everyone turned.
A woman standing near the back suddenly tried to leave.
The bride froze.
Because she knew her.
The woman who had raised her.
The woman she called Aunt Margaret.
Victoria's blood ran cold.
Because she recognized her too.
Twenty years ago...
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Margaret had been Victoria's closest friend.
TO BE CONTINUED...
