CHAPTER 2 — The Name Inside the Watch
No one moved.
Even the orchestra stopped playing.
The woman stared at the soot-covered pocket watch as if it were a ghost crawling out of the past.
Her hand shook.
"Who are you?" she whispered.
The girl didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she gently pressed the tiny release button.
Click.
The watch opened.
Inside the lid was a faded engraving.
Evelyn & Thomas. Forever.
The woman's face turned white.
A wealthy guest frowned.
"Thomas? Wasn't that the manager who died in the warehouse fire twelve years ago?"
The woman snapped around.
"He stole from me!"
Her voice cracked louder than she intended.
"He deserved what happened!"
The girl's eyes never blinked.
"No."
She slowly pulled a small photograph from her hoodie.
Thomas.
Holding a little girl.
The same pocket watch hanging from his vest.
May you like
"That was my father."
Silence swallowed the ballroom.
