Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2 — THE BIRTHMARK
The boy's hair shifted in the wind.
For a brief moment, his neck became visible.
Elena froze.
Her breath disappeared.
Just below his left ear...
A small dark birthmark.
A crescent moon.
Tiny.
Perfectly shaped.
Exactly where she remembered it.
Exactly.
Her knees nearly gave out beneath her.
The world around her seemed to vanish.
The gardens.
The mansion.
The voices.
Everything faded away.
Because twenty years earlier...
She had held a newborn baby in her arms.
A baby boy with the same mark.
The same crescent moon.
The same place beneath the ear.
The child she had been told was gone.
The child she had mourned.
The child she had spent years crying for.
"No..."
The word escaped her lips like a prayer.
The boy looked at her nervously.
Confused.
Unsure why this elegant woman suddenly looked like she might collapse.
Tears filled Elena's eyes.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably.
For years she had searched for answers.
May you like
And now...
A stranger stood in front of her carrying the impossible.
