Part One: The Song That Should Not Exist
Part One: The Song That Should Not Exist
The church was silent.
Not peaceful silent.
But suspended silent.
As if even time was holding its breath.
“Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband…”
The priest’s voice echoed through the cathedral.
Every guest turned toward the bride.
Isabelle Monroe stood at the altar in a flawless ivory gown.
Diamonds at her neck.
Flowers trembling slightly in her hands.
A perfect life.
A perfect marriage.
A perfect lie—if anyone dared to call it that.
Across from her, the groom smiled.
Confident.
Powerful.
The kind of man the world trusted without question.
“I do,” he said.
Soft laughter rippled through the pews.
Approval.
Relief.
Admiration.
Then—
A sound.
Faint at first.
Barely noticeable beneath the organ’s final note.
A voice.
Singing.
Off-key.
Slow.
Hesitant.
But familiar in a way that made Isabelle’s chest tighten instantly.
Her fingers went cold.
The bouquet slipped slightly.
She turned her head.
Not toward the groom.
Not toward the priest.
But toward the back of the church.
Where an elderly janitor was pushing a mop bucket across the marble floor.
He was singing under his breath.
A lullaby.
Old.
Worn.
Almost forgotten.
“Hush now, little star… the world is not as it seems…”
The room didn’t react.
At first.
Then Isabelle stepped back.
Just one step.
Then another.
Her veil shifted slightly as her breath caught in her throat.
Because she knew that song.
She hadn’t heard it in twenty-two years.
Not since she was a child.
Not since the night she was told her mother disappeared.
Her voice cracked.
“Where did you hear that?”
The janitor stopped singing.
The mop handle froze in his hands.
Slowly, he looked up.
And for the first time—
really looked at her.
The color drained from Isabelle’s face.
Because she recognized him too.
Not as a janitor.
But as someone from a life she was never supposed to remember.
The groom frowned.
“Isabelle? What’s wrong?”
But she didn’t answer.
Couldn’t.
Because the janitor quietly reached into his pocket.
And pulled out a faded photograph.
One she thought had burned with everything else.
He whispered:
“I was told I’d only give this back… if you survived long enough to find your way here.”
The priest stepped forward.
“What is happening?”
No one answered.
The music had already stopped.
May you like
And the wedding that was supposed to unite two families…
was about to destroy one truth that had been buried for decades.
