CHAPTER 2 — The Woman Who Was Buried Alive
CHAPTER 2 — The Woman Who Was Buried Alive
The moment their eyes met, the air shifted.
The billionaire staggered slightly.
Because the face he saw was not a memory.
It was real.
And it was alive.
“Clara…” he repeated, weaker this time.
The little girl refused to let go.
“She’s my mom,” she said firmly. “She came back for me.”
The woman’s hands trembled as she slowly placed them on the child’s shoulders.
“I… I didn’t leave you,” she whispered.
The billionaire’s jaw tightened.
“You were declared dead,” he said sharply. “We buried you.”
Clara flinched.
At that word—buried.
A painful silence followed.
Then she whispered, “I wasn’t dead.”
The room murmured.
The billionaire stepped closer.
“Then explain it,” he demanded. “Explain why I buried an empty coffin.”
Clara looked down at the child in her arms.
“I didn’t die in that accident,” she said quietly. “I was taken.”
The words hit the room like a shockwave.
The billionaire froze.
“Taken by who?”
Clara hesitated.
Her voice dropped lower.
“By your family.”
The crowd gasped.
The billionaire’s expression darkened instantly.
“That’s impossible.”
Clara shook her head.
“It wasn’t an accident. It was arranged. I heard them talking before everything went black.”
Her hands tightened around the little girl.
“They didn’t want me near you. And when I survived… they made sure no one ever looked for me again.”
The billionaire stepped back slightly.
For the first time, uncertainty flickered in his eyes.
Because he remembered that night.
The investigation.
The closed case.
The speed at which everything was declared “resolved.”
Too fast.
Too clean.
The little girl looked between them.
Confused.
But still holding onto Clara like she was afraid reality might steal her again.
The billionaire’s voice lowered.
“If what you’re saying is true…”
Clara met his eyes.
“It is.”
A long silence followed.
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Then—
the doors of the ballroom suddenly opened again.
