Chapter 6: Emma’s Promise
Lucas could barely hear the conversations happening outside the room.
The ballroom had grown restless. Guests whispered among themselves, checking their watches and exchanging worried glances. The string quartet had stopped playing nearly twenty minutes earlier, leaving an uncomfortable silence hanging over what was supposed to be a celebration.
None of it mattered to Lucas.
His entire world had narrowed to one sentence.
"...She asked me to watch over you and Sophie."
He looked at Victoria as though he were seeing her for the first time.
"You knew Emma."
"Yes."
"You lived with her."
"Yes."
"You kept this from me for almost two years."
Victoria lowered her eyes.
"Yes."
Lucas slowly sat down in one of the chairs near the window, trying to steady his breathing.
He remembered the afternoon he had first met Victoria.
It had been nearly three years after Emma's death.
He had taken Sophie to a neighborhood bookstore because she insisted she wanted "a princess story where the princess saves herself."
Victoria had been browsing the children's section.
Sophie had accidentally knocked over an entire display of picture books.
Instead of getting annoyed, Victoria had laughed and helped pick them up.
She had even recommended one of Sophie's favorite books.
At the time, Lucas had thought it was a lucky coincidence.
Now...
It no longer felt like one.
He looked up.
"Did you know I would be there that day?"
Victoria answered immediately.
"No."
"You didn't?"
She shook her head.
"I had just moved back to the city."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I wasn't looking for you."
"Then how did you recognize me?"
Her eyes softened.
"I recognized Sophie first."
Lucas frowned.
"What?"
"She looks exactly like Emma did at that age."
Lucas felt his chest tighten.
Victoria smiled sadly.
"She has Emma's smile."
For a brief moment, Lucas remembered an old photo album stored in his attic.
Pictures of Emma as a little girl.
The resemblance was undeniable.
Victoria continued quietly.
"I looked at Sophie..."
"...then I looked at you."
"I knew immediately who you were."
"Why didn't you walk away?"
"I almost did."
"Then why didn't you?"
Victoria took a slow breath.
"Because Emma would have wanted me to say hello."
Lucas looked away.
Mentioning Emma no longer brought the sharp, unbearable pain it once had.
Instead, it left behind something quieter.
A longing.
A thousand memories.
He remembered Emma laughing while burning pancakes on Sunday mornings.
He remembered her singing terribly off-key in the car.
He remembered the way she kissed Sophie's forehead every night before bed.
He also remembered the hospital.
The machines.
The silence after the doctors walked out.
Lucas blinked away the memory.
"When did Emma ask you to make that promise?"
Victoria hesitated.
"The week before she passed away."
Margaret quietly pulled up another chair.
"You visited her?"
Victoria nodded.
"Every day."
Lucas looked stunned.
"Every day?"
"Almost."
"You told me Emma didn't have visitors near the end."
Margaret spoke softly.
"That's what we believed."
Victoria looked ashamed.
"Emma didn't want anyone else to know."
Lucas stared at her.
"Why?"
"She didn't want people saying goodbye."
"That doesn't sound like Emma."
Victoria gave a faint smile.
"It wasn't."
Lucas frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"She hated hospitals."
A small laugh escaped Victoria through her tears.
"She said she wanted everyone to remember her healthy."
Lucas couldn't help smiling.
"That does sound like her."
Victoria reached into the manila folder from the mysterious box.
"I think it's time you saw this."
She carefully removed a folded piece of paper.
The edges had yellowed with age.
Lucas immediately recognized the handwriting.
His breath caught.
"That's Emma's."
Victoria nodded.
"I've carried this for seven years."
Lucas unfolded the page with trembling hands.
It wasn't a long letter.
Just a single page.
He began reading silently.
Victoria,
If you're reading this, then I'm probably too stubborn to admit what's happening.
I know you keep telling me to fight harder, and I promise I'm trying. But if life has other plans, I need one favor.
Lucas will never ask for help. That's who he is. He'll tell everyone he's fine even when he's falling apart.
Please don't let him isolate himself.
And Sophie...
She'll be too young to remember every detail about me. Make sure she grows up hearing stories—not about how I died, but about how much I loved her.
Promise me one more thing.
Don't tell Lucas about this letter unless you truly believe he needs it. I don't want him feeling like he owes anyone anything because of me. If one day your paths cross naturally, let life decide the rest.
Take care of them... but only if they let you.
Love always,
Emma
Lucas lowered the letter.
His vision blurred.
Every word sounded exactly like Emma.
Practical.
Kind.
Always thinking of someone else before herself.
He looked at Victoria.
"You kept your promise."
Victoria nodded, tears streaming down her face.
"I tried."
"But why hide all of this?"
"Because Emma asked me to."
Lucas looked back at the letter.
The words were unmistakable.
If one day your paths cross naturally, let life decide the rest.
He suddenly understood why Victoria had never told him.
Not because she wanted to deceive him.
Because she had been honoring Emma's final wish.
The realization softened something inside him.
But only for a moment.
His eyes drifted back to the mysterious box on the table.
The anonymous letters.
The warning.
The accusations.
The locked bathroom.
The frightened look on Sophie's face.
Something still didn't fit.
Emma's letter proved Victoria had known his late wife.
It proved she had entered his life with good intentions.
But it didn't explain why someone was so desperate to stop the wedding.
Nor did it explain why Sophie believed Victoria wanted her gone.
Lucas carefully folded Emma's letter and placed it back into the envelope.
Then he reached for the last unopened item inside the box.
The small black velvet jewelry case.
As he slowly lifted the lid, everyone leaned closer.
Inside rested a delicate silver necklace.
Hanging from it was a tiny heart-shaped pendant.
Lucas's eyes widened.
He recognized it instantly.
It had belonged to Emma.
The necklace she was buried without.
May you like
Yet somehow...
It was lying inside the mysterious box.
