CHAPTER 1 : THE WOMAN HE BURIED WALKED INTO HIS ENGAGEMENT PARTY
The ballroom went silent.
Every guest turned toward the little girl.
She was clinging to the housekeeper as if letting go would break her heart.
"Mommy's back," she cried.
"I knew you'd come back."
The tray of champagne glasses crashed onto the marble floor.
The woman in the maid uniform froze.
Tears filled her eyes.
Across the room, billionaire Ethan Blackwell stood motionless.
His face had gone completely white.
Impossible.
It couldn't be.
Yet when the woman slowly lifted her head, he forgot how to breathe.
Those eyes.
That face.
Even after seven years...
He knew her instantly.
"Clara?"
The name escaped his lips like a prayer.
The guests looked confused.
His fiancée, Vanessa, immediately grabbed his arm.
"Ethan, who is that woman?"
But Ethan couldn't answer.
Because Clara Hart was dead.
At least that's what everyone had told him.
Seven years earlier, Clara's car had gone off a cliff during a storm.
Police found the wreckage.
Her purse.
Her wedding ring.
There had been no body.
But after months of searching, everyone assumed the ocean had taken her.
Everyone except their daughter.
Little Sophie had never stopped believing.
Every birthday.
Every Christmas.
Every wish.
She asked for her mother.
And now she was standing right there.
Alive.
Sophie looked up at Clara with tears streaming down her face.
"Mommy, why didn't you come home?"
The question shattered the room.
Clara broke down.
She dropped to her knees and hugged her daughter tightly.
For several seconds neither of them could speak.
Then Ethan stepped forward.
His voice trembled.
"Clara... where have you been?"
The joy disappeared from Clara's face.
Fear replaced it.
Real fear.
She looked directly at Ethan.
Then at Vanessa.
Then back at Ethan.
"You need to get Sophie out of here."
The room fell silent again.
Ethan frowned.
"What?"
Clara's voice shook.
"They know I'm alive."
"Who?"
Before Clara could answer, the ballroom doors suddenly burst open.
Three men in black suits entered.
And the moment Clara saw them...
She turned pale.
May you like
"They found me."
TO BE CONTINUED...
