CHAPTER 1: THE FACE BEHIND THE COUNTER
Daniel couldn’t move.
The café lights blurred into a haze as his mind refused to accept what his eyes were telling him. The waitress behind the counter had her hair tied back, a simple apron wrapped around her waist, her expression calm—almost unfamiliar.
But her eyes.
Those eyes were impossible to forget.
“Mommy…” Lily whispered again, clutching Daniel’s sleeve.
The woman looked up from the register, and for a fraction of a second, her composure cracked. Just a flicker. Just enough.
Then she looked away.
“Sir, would you like to order?” she asked politely, her voice steady—too steady.
Daniel stepped forward, his chest tight. “No… that’s not possible.”
The café grew quieter in his perception, like the world had been turned down to a distant hum. Lily tugged at his hand.
“Dad, why is mommy wearing a different name tag?”
Daniel froze.
He hadn’t even noticed it.
The name stitched on her apron read: “Elena.”
His wife’s name was… also Elena.
Or at least, it had been.
May you like
Because Elena Donovan had died three years ago in a car accident.
He had identified the body himself.
