Chapter 2: The Name They Buried
Chapter 2: The Name They Buried
The ballroom remained silent.
Emily knelt on the marble floor, brushing frosting from the old silver ring before slipping it back into her trembling hand. Every eye followed Victoria Bennett, whose face had turned as white as the icing covering the shattered birthday cake.
"Where did you get that ring?" Victoria asked again, this time louder.
Emily looked around uneasily.
"It belonged to my mother."
"And her name?"
Emily hesitated.
"Sarah Parker."
The name struck the room like thunder.
An elderly man standing beside the grand piano staggered backward. Richard Bennett, the eighty-three-year-old patriarch of the Bennett family, stared at Emily as though he had seen a ghost.
"No..." he whispered.
"It can't be."
Victoria slowly reached toward the ring but stopped before touching it.
"I engraved those letters myself," she said quietly.
Emily frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Victoria swallowed.
"Thirty years ago, I gave that ring to my younger sister."
The guests exchanged confused glances.
Victoria continued, her voice shaking.
"Sarah Bennett."
Emily's eyes widened.
"My mother wasn't Sarah Bennett."
Victoria closed her eyes.
"She became Sarah Parker after she disappeared."
Richard lowered his head in shame.
"We told the world she had stolen money from the family and run away."
Emily felt her heartbeat pounding.
"My mother always said she left because she was protecting someone."
Victoria's tears finally escaped.
"She was protecting you."
The ballroom fell completely silent.
Emily could barely breathe.
"My mother... knew this family?"
Victoria nodded slowly.
May you like
"No, Emily."
"You were born into this family."
