Chapter 1: The Photograph Inside the Locket
The ballroom fell into complete silence.
The bride's trembling fingers held the tiny gold locket open.
Inside wasn't a piece of jewelry.
It was a faded photograph.
One side showed her as a five-year-old girl sitting on her mother's lap.
The other side showed something impossible.
Her mother stood beside a smiling little girl no older than seven...
The same little girl standing in front of her now.
Only the photograph looked brand new.
Not twenty years old.
The bride's heartbeat pounded in her ears.
"Where..." she whispered.
Her voice barely existed.
"Where did you see her?"
The flower girl wiped away her tears.
"At the nursing home."
The room erupted.
"What?"
"That's impossible."
"Her mother died twenty years ago."
The groom gently knelt beside the child.
"Sweetheart... who gave you this?"
The little girl looked confused.
"The nice lady in Room 214."
"She said if a beautiful lady in a white dress ever got married, I had to give it back."
The bride suddenly couldn't breathe.
Room 214.
The name sounded strangely familiar.
Before anyone could ask another question, an elderly wedding guest stepped forward.
His face had turned ghostly white.
"I know that nursing home."
May you like
Everyone looked at him.
"It's only for patients hidden under court protection."
