CHAPTER 2: THE SECRET VICTORIA BURIED
CHAPTER 2: THE SECRET VICTORIA BURIED
The silence stretched across the Sterling ballroom.
Claire stared at Ethan.
"I... saved your life?"
Ethan nodded slowly.
"You were only eight."
"You probably don't remember."
Victoria took one shaky step backward.
"That's enough," she interrupted.
"You've mistaken her for someone else."
Ethan never looked away from Claire.
"No."
"I could never forget those eyes."
A murmur spread through the guests.
Ten years earlier, Ethan Sterling had disappeared during a charity camping trip in the mountains.
The search lasted three days.
News helicopters filled the sky.
Police searched every trail.
When Ethan was finally found alive, the newspapers praised the rescue team.
But Ethan had always insisted someone had helped him before rescuers arrived.
A little girl.
A girl who had wrapped his injured leg with strips torn from her own sweater.
A girl who stayed beside him through a freezing night.
A girl who disappeared before sunrise.
Ethan reached into his jacket.
He removed a faded red friendship bracelet.
"I've kept this ever since."
Claire's breath caught.
Her hand instinctively touched her wrist.
"I made that..."
Victoria's knees nearly gave way.
Because she remembered burning Claire's matching bracelet years ago, insisting it was worthless.
She had hoped the past would disappear with it.
May you like
Instead...
It had returned.
