Chapter 1: The Photograph on the Marble Floor
The banquet hall fell silent.
The young waitress trembled as tears streamed down her face. The red mark from the socialite’s slap burned across her cheek. Guests watched in uncomfortable silence while crystal chandeliers sparkled above them.
“You shameless girl!” the socialite shouted. “Flirting with my husband right in front of everyone!”
The waitress shook her head.
“No… that's not why I came.”
Her fingers loosened around an old, faded photograph.
The picture slipped from her hands and landed on the marble floor.
The husband glanced down.
Then his face drained of color.
His knees nearly buckled.
Because the photograph showed a younger version of himself standing beside a smiling woman, holding a newborn baby wrapped in a pink blanket.
Written on the back were four words:
"For our daughter, Lily."
The waitress stared at him through her tears.
“My mother kept this until she died.”
The room erupted with whispers.
The socialite looked confused.
The husband's lips trembled.
“Lily?” he whispered.
The waitress nodded.
“I’m your daughter.”
The champagne glasses stopped clinking.
The music seemed to disappear.
For twenty-three years, the businessman had believed his first love had abandoned him without explanation. He never knew she had been pregnant.
May you like
But now the evidence lay at his feet.
And his entire world began to crumble.
