CHAPTER 2: THE NAME SHE WASN’T SUPPOSED TO KNOW
Daniel stood abruptly.
His chair scraped loudly against the floor, making a few customers glance over. Lily followed nervously, holding onto his jacket as he walked toward the counter.
“Sir, can I help you?” the manager asked, stepping in.
But Daniel didn’t hear him.
He stopped only a few feet from her.
Up close, it was worse. Every detail matched the woman he had buried in memory—the slight scar near her wrist, the same nervous habit of tucking hair behind her ear.
“Elena…” he said, barely a whisper.
The waitress froze.
Her hand slipped, dropping a glass she was holding. It shattered on the floor.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, voice shaking. “You’re confusing me with someone else.”
But her eyes betrayed her.
Daniel stepped closer. “I buried my wife. I buried her.”
The café went silent now. Even the rain seemed quieter.
Lily suddenly spoke again, softer this time.
“Mommy… why did you leave us?”
That did it.
The waitress closed her eyes.
And when she opened them again, tears were already forming.
“I didn’t leave,” she whispered. “I ran.”
Daniel’s world tilted.
“Ran from what?”
May you like
Her lips trembled.
“From the people who were going to kill me.”
