Chapter 2: The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Nathan pushed through the crowd.
His heart pounded so violently he could barely hear.
"Emma..."
The little girl clung tighter to Clara.
"No!"
Nathan stopped.
Emma had not only spoken.
She had protested.
Another first.
The room remained frozen.
Vanessa stepped forward carefully.
"Sweetheart," she said with a strained smile, "you're mistaken."
Emma turned toward her.
Fear flooded her face.
Real fear.
Then she buried herself against Clara again.
The reaction was immediate.
Nathan saw it.
And so did everyone else.
Clara's hands trembled as she looked at Emma.
Then at Nathan.
Tears filled her eyes.
"Nathan..."
His stomach dropped.
Only one person had ever spoken his name exactly that way.
"No," he whispered.
The maid slowly reached into her pocket.
She removed an old silver locket.
Nathan's knees nearly buckled.
It belonged to his wife.
His dead wife.
Sophia Caldwell.
The woman buried three years ago after a boating accident.
The woman whose body had supposedly been identified through damaged remains recovered from the wreckage.
The woman standing in front of him.
Alive.
The room erupted with gasps.
Vanessa staggered backward.
Sophia's eyes never left Nathan's.
"I didn't die."
The words shattered the room.
Nathan could barely breathe.
"What happened?"
Sophia looked toward Vanessa.
And the answer terrified everyone.
May you like
"Ask your fiancée."
Vanessa's face lost all color.
