Chapter 1: The Locket Inside the Bag
Chapter 1: The Locket Inside the Bag
Victoria Hale's fingers tightened around the handbag.
"What did you just say?"
The little girl slowly pushed herself onto her knees despite the blood running down her legs.
"I said... it's not yours."
A nervous murmur swept through the lobby.
Victoria laughed coldly.
"You think you can lie in front of all these people?"
Before the child could answer, the handbag slipped from both of their hands.
It crashed onto the marble floor.
The expensive clasp burst open.
Its contents scattered across the lobby.
Lipstick.
A diamond-studded key card.
A gold wallet.
Hotel documents.
Then...
A small silver locket rolled across the marble.
It stopped directly at the feet of the hotel's elderly concierge, Mr. Walter.
His eyes widened.
"No..."
He slowly bent down and picked it up.
His hands began to shake.
Victoria's face instantly lost all color.
"Give that back."
Her voice was sharper than before.
But Mr. Walter didn't move.
He opened the tiny locket.
Inside were two faded photographs.
One showed a young Victoria Hale smiling beside another woman who looked almost identical to her.
The second picture showed a newborn baby wrapped in a pink blanket.
Behind the photographs was a folded hospital wristband.
Mr. Walter whispered,
"Emily Hale..."
The name echoed through the lobby.
Victoria lunged toward him.
"Stop reading!"
But it was too late.
Everyone had already heard.
The little girl quietly wiped the blood from her knee.
"My mother told me to bring that back to its real owner."
The entire room stared at Victoria.
Not with admiration anymore.
May you like
But with questions.
Questions she had buried for eight long years.
