Chapter 1: The Face She Couldn't Forget
Chapter 1: The Face She Couldn't Forget
The slap echoed through the restaurant.
Every conversation stopped.
Wine glasses froze halfway to waiting lips.
Twenty-four-year-old waitress Emily staggered backward, one hand pressed against her burning cheek.
The woman standing before her lowered her hand without a trace of regret.
"You spilled water on my dress," she said coldly.
"It costs more than your yearly salary."
Emily looked down.
The glass hadn't even touched the woman's designer gown.
"I'm... I'm sorry, ma'am."
"I'll replace the drink."
The elegant woman narrowed her eyes.
Something about the waitress unsettled her.
Not the uniform.
Not the apology.
Her face.
The same blue eyes.
The same tiny scar above the left eyebrow.
The same smile...
The one she hadn't seen in twenty-two years.
Her younger sister's smile.
The sister everyone believed had died in a house fire.
"No..." she whispered.
Emily frowned.
"Ma'am?"
The woman shook her head as though trying to erase the impossible.
"It's nothing."
May you like
She turned away.
But she couldn't stop looking back.
