Chapter 2 — A Name Buried for Three Years
Caleb slowly walked toward Lily.
His eyes never left hers.
The closer he came, the stronger the impossible feeling became.
Claire had the same eyes.
The same tiny golden sparks around the pupils.
The same expression whenever she was frightened.
He knelt until they were face to face.
"What is your name?"
"Lily."
"And your last name?"
The little girl looked toward her mother.
Nora answered quietly.
"Reyes."
Caleb nodded.
Then he noticed something hanging beneath Lily's dress collar.
A tiny silver locket.
His heartbeat stumbled.
He knew that necklace.
Claire never took it off.
He reached toward it but stopped halfway.
"May I?"
Lily nodded.
Inside the worn locket sat two faded photographs.
One showed a little girl laughing beside the ocean.
The other had been torn in half.
Only one hand remained visible.
A man's hand wearing a Whitmore family signet ring.
Caleb's face turned pale.
That ring had never been sold.
Never duplicated.
Only immediate members of the Whitmore family owned one.
Sloane suddenly stepped forward.
"Caleb..."
"It belongs to her father."
"Surely thousands of people own similar jewelry."
Caleb didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward Nora.
"Where did your daughter get this?"
Nora swallowed hard.
"It belonged to Lily's father."
"You knew him?"
"I... barely."
The hesitation told Caleb everything.
She wasn't lying.
She was hiding something.
Before anyone could continue, an elderly voice echoed through the ballroom.
"I've seen that necklace before."
Everyone turned.
Standing near the staircase was Margaret Hale.
Claire's former nanny.
She stared at Lily with tears filling her eyes.
May you like
"Oh my God..."
"She has Claire's necklace."
