CHAPTER 6 – The Woman at the Flower Shop
Nathan arrived in Rosewood two days later.
The quiet little town felt nothing like the glamorous world he had always known.
He found the flower shop exactly where the photograph showed.
A silver bell chimed as he stepped inside.
Fresh roses filled the room with their scent.
Behind the counter stood an older woman arranging white lilies.
She looked up.
Their eyes met.
The bouquet slipped from her hands.
"Nathan..."
His heart stopped.
She knew his name.
Tears rolled down her cheeks before he could speak.
"I've dreamed about this moment every single day."
Nathan's voice cracked.
"My mother died when I was six."
The woman slowly shook her head.
"No..."
"They made sure you believed that."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny blue toy car.
Nathan stared at it in disbelief.
He had lost that toy when he was four years old.
No one else could possibly have had it.
"You used to sleep holding this every night," she whispered.
Nathan collapsed into her arms.
For the first time in twenty-eight years...
A mother held her son again.
But outside the flower shop...
A black SUV had been watching the reunion.
Inside, Richard Crawford lowered his phone after ending a call.
His expression was colder than ever.
"She's been found."
The man on the other end asked quietly,
"What are your orders?"
Richard looked through the windshield at Nathan embracing his mother.
May you like
Then he answered without a trace of emotion.
"Make sure neither of them lives long enough to tell the rest of the story."
