The little boy\u2019s cry echoed through the silent ballroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t hit my real mommy!\u201d<\/p>\n
No one moved.<\/p>\n
Crystal chandeliers shimmered above frozen guests while the orchestra stood motionless beside their instruments.<\/p>\n
The glamorous woman in red stared at the child like she had stopped understanding the world around her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2026 did he say?\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n
The boy buried his face deeper into the woman in white\u2019s shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe came back\u2026\u201d he cried. \u201cI knew she\u2019d come back\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman in white closed her eyes tightly.<\/p>\n
Tears slipped down her face.<\/p>\n
Not confusion.<\/p>\n
Not shock.<\/p>\n
Pain.<\/p>\n
The man in the black suit finally reached them through the crowd.<\/p>\n
Close-up\u2014<\/p>\n
his face slowly lost all color as he looked directly at the woman holding the child.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026Emily?\u201d he whispered breathlessly.<\/p>\n
A sharp wave of whispers spread instantly across the ballroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily?\u201d
\n\u201cShe died.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s impossible\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman in red turned toward him in panic.<\/p>\n
\u201cJames\u2026 what is happening?\u201d<\/p>\n
But he didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
Because he couldn\u2019t stop staring at the woman kneeling on the marble floor.<\/p>\n
The same eyes.<\/p>\n
The same voice.<\/p>\n
The same small scar beneath her chin.<\/p>\n
The woman everyone at the gala had buried three years earlier.<\/p>\n
The child slowly lifted trembling hands toward the man.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaddy\u2026\u201d he cried softly. \u201cI told you she was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
James staggered backward slightly as memories crashed across his face.<\/p>\n
The fire.<\/p>\n
The accident.<\/p>\n
The closed casket.<\/p>\n
Everything suddenly felt wrong.<\/p>\n
Then\u2014<\/p>\n
the woman in white finally looked up at him.<\/p>\n
Fear filled her eyes.<\/p>\n
Not fear of being seen.<\/p>\n
Fear of what happens after.<\/p>\n
And quietly\u2014<\/p>\n
almost breaking\u2014<\/p>\n
she whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cThey lied to you about what happened that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Complete silence swallowed the ballroom.<\/p>\n
Then from somewhere near the back of the crowd\u2014<\/p>\n
a champagne glass shattered onto the marble floor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The little boy\u2019s cry echoed through the silent ballroom. \u201cDon\u2019t hit my real mommy!\u201d No one moved. Crystal chandeliers shimmered above frozen guests while the orchestra stood motionless beside their instruments. The glamorous woman in red stared at the child like she had stopped understanding the world around her. \u201cWhat\u2026 did he say?\u201d she whispered. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}