CHAPTER 1 — The Girl Who Ran Through the Glass Hall
CHAPTER 1 — The Girl Who Ran Through the Glass Hall
The engagement party glittered like a promise built from money and silence.
Crystal chandeliers reflected off polished marble floors. Guests laughed softly, champagne in hand, pretending the world outside did not exist.
At the edge of the room, a woman in a simple black uniform moved quietly between tables.
A servant.
A nobody.
She kept her head down as she served drinks, avoiding every glance, every conversation, every moment that might pull her into notice.
No one remembered her name.
No one tried to.
Until the doors opened again.
A little girl ran inside.
Barefoot.
Soaked from rain.
Her eyes searched wildly across the room until they locked onto the housekeeper.
Then she stopped.
Everything stopped with her.
“Mommy…”
The glass in someone’s hand slipped and shattered on the floor.
The sound echoed like a warning.
The little girl didn’t hesitate.
She ran straight through the crowd.
And wrapped her arms tightly around the housekeeper’s waist.
“Mommy’s back…” she cried. “I knew you’d come back…”
Silence swallowed the entire ballroom.
The housekeeper froze.
Her tray nearly fell from her hands.
Slowly, she looked down at the child holding her like she was something precious that had been lost and finally returned.
“I’m sorry…” she whispered.
But the girl only cried harder.
At the far end of the room, the billionaire stood up slowly.
His glass didn’t move.
His breath didn’t move.
His world… stopped moving.
Because the woman his daughter was holding onto—
was supposed to be dead.
Years ago.
Gone in a car accident no one questioned.
No one searched deeply enough to doubt.
And yet now she was here.
Alive.
Breathing.
And trembling in front of his child.
The billionaire stepped forward.
The crowd parted without realizing it.
His voice broke through the silence.
“Clara?”
May you like
The name fell into the room like something dangerous.
The woman finally looked up.
