Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Knew The Song.
Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Knew The Song.
Nora could not move.
The supermarket continued around her.
People walked past.
Children laughed near the bakery counter.
A cashier called for assistance.
But Nora heard nothing.
She only saw the little girl standing in front of her.
A child who knew a lullaby that was never meant for anyone else.
A child wearing a necklace that matched the one Nora had carried every day since the night her daughter disappeared.
The older woman tightened her grip on the girl’s hand.
Her sunglasses hid her eyes.
But her body revealed her fear.
“Come on,” the woman said quietly.
“We’re leaving.”
The little girl shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Nora.
“I found her.”
Nora slowly stood.
Her hands were trembling.
“Who are you?”
The older woman looked away.
“She is confused.”
Nora stepped closer.
“No child remembers a song from someone she has never met.”
The woman’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But Nora noticed something.
The woman never said the girl was not connected to her.
She only said she was confused.
That was not an answer.
That was an excuse.
Nora looked down at the child.
“What is your name?”
The girl hesitated.
She looked toward the older woman.
Then back at Nora.
“Emma.”
The name hit Nora unexpectedly.
Not because it was familiar.
Because of the way Emma said it.
Like she had been taught to be careful.
Like every answer had rules.
“Emma,” Nora repeated softly.
The little girl smiled through her tears.
“You said it the same way.”
Nora frowned.
“Same way as who?”
Emma touched the silver heart necklace.
“My mommy.”
Nora felt a sharp pain in her chest.
The older woman immediately pulled Emma backward.
“That is enough.”
Her voice became colder.
“We are leaving now.”
Nora blocked their path.
“No.”
The woman stared at her.
“You need to move.”
Nora looked at Emma.
Then at the necklace.
Then back at the woman.
“I spent six years believing my daughter was dead.”
The older woman froze.
Just for a moment.
But it was enough.
Nora saw it.
Recognition.
Pain.
Regret.
“You know what happened,” Nora whispered.
The woman’s expression hardened.
“You should forget what you saw.”
Nora felt anger replacing fear.
“I already lost my daughter once.”
“I will not lose her again.”
The woman pulled Emma away.
The little girl reached toward Nora.
“Mommy!”
The word echoed through the bakery area.
Several people turned to look.
The older woman moved faster.
She dragged Emma toward the exit doors.
Nora followed.
Outside, evening rain had started falling.
A dark vehicle waited near the entrance.
The older woman opened the door.
Emma looked back.
Her face was filled with panic.
Then she whispered something.
Something only Nora could hear.
“Ask Ethan.”
Nora stopped.
The name meant everything.
Ethan.
The man who had stood beside her at St. Catherine’s Hospital.
The man who told her their baby was gone.
The man who had comforted her while she fell apart.
The man who disappeared emotionally after that night.
Before Nora could ask anything else, the door closed.
The vehicle drove away.
Nora stood in the rain.
Her groceries forgotten.
Her hands empty.
Except for one thing.
A memory.
A name.
May you like
Ethan.
And suddenly, the person she trusted most became the person she needed to question.
