Chapter 2

Jason couldn’t breathe.

The woman was still standing there.

Not moving.

Not speaking.

Just watching.

As if she had been waiting for this exact moment.

Waiting for him.

The pastor continued speaking, unaware that Jason had stopped hearing every word.

His heartbeat drowned out everything.

Amara noticed.

“Jason?”

No response.

She touched his arm.

His skin felt cold.

Too cold.

His eyes remained fixed on the woman.

The woman smiled.

Not a happy smile.

Not a cruel smile.

Something worse.

A smile that suggested she knew something nobody else did.

Then she slowly raised her hand.

And waved.

Jason’s stomach dropped.

Because the gesture wasn’t meant to greet him.

It was meant to remind him.

Of something.

Someone.

A memory he had spent years trying to bury.

“Do you know her?” Amara whispered.

Jason finally blinked.

“No.”

A lie.

A terrible lie.

Amara saw it instantly.

The woman began walking forward.

One slow step.

Then another.

Guests moved aside without even realizing it.

Something about her presence made people uncomfortable.

The closer she came, the worse Jason felt.

Then she stopped.

Three rows behind the last guest.

Still smiling.

Still staring.

Then she reached into her handbag.

Jason’s pulse exploded.

Not because he thought she had a weapon.

Because he knew exactly what she was reaching for.

And if she still had it—

Everything was over.

The woman removed a small photograph.

Nothing else.

Just a photograph.

She held it up.

Only for a second.

But that second was enough.

Jason nearly collapsed.

Because the photograph showed something impossible.

Someone impossible.

Someone who should not exist.

The woman put the picture away.

Amara noticed Jason’s reaction.

For the first time all morning, genuine fear appeared in his eyes.

Not nervousness.

Not embarrassment.

Fear.

The kind people feel when a ghost walks into a room.

Then the woman mouthed four words.

No sound.

Just her lips moving.

Jason understood every word.

And those four words destroyed him.

“I finally found you.”

TO BE CONTINUED.