CHAPTER 1: THE LITTLE GIRL WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD
No one paid attention to the crying little girl.
She couldn't have been older than six. Her blonde hair was tangled, her tiny dress wrinkled from hours of waiting, and she clutched a worn-out stuffed rabbit with one missing ear. Travelers hurried past her inside the crowded international terminal, too busy catching flights to notice the child desperately scanning every face.
Then...
She froze.
Her tiny eyes locked onto a sharply dressed businessman walking beside an elegant younger woman.
"DADDY!"
Her scream echoed across the terminal.
Heads turned instantly.
The businessman stopped in his tracks. His face drained of color as the little girl sprinted toward him with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Daddy... you finally came back!"
The younger woman frowned.
"Who is this child?"
The man forced a nervous laugh.
"I... I have no idea."
The little girl's smile disappeared.
"You promised you'd come home after Mommy went to heaven..."
A painful silence swallowed the airport.
Passengers slowed down. Phones quietly appeared. Someone had already started recording.
The businessmanâEthan Carter, one of the city's fastest-rising tech CEOsâquickly grabbed the girl's shoulders.
"Sweetheart... you've mistaken me for someone else."
The child shook her head violently.
"No! You gave me Bunny before my surgery! You kissed my forehead and said we'd always be together!"
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
The elegant woman beside Ethan stepped backward.
"Ethan... what is she talking about?"
He clenched his jaw.
"She's lying."
But the little girl reached into her backpack...
...and pulled out an old family photograph.
It showed Ethan.
Holding the little girl in his arms.
Standing beside a smiling woman.
The date was printed across the bottom.
Seven years ago.
The woman beside Ethan stared at the photo in horror.
"You told me... your wife died before you ever had children."
Ethan's breathing became uneven.
The crowd grew larger.
Then the little girl whispered something that made every person nearby fall silent.
"Mommy didn't die in an accident..."
May you like
"...she said someone pushed her."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Related Stories
