Chapter 2
The ballroom became so quiet that someone dropping a fork at the back of the room sounded impossibly loud.
Emily swallowed.
"My mother."
Victoria's breathing became uneven.
"What was her name?"
"Sarah Parker."
Victoria closed her eyes.
For several seconds she said nothing at all.
Then she whispered a name almost no one had heard her speak in nearly twenty-seven years.
"Sarah..."
Chloe looked between them.
"Mom?"
No answer.
"Mom, what is this?"
Victoria reached toward the ring but stopped before touching it.
"May I?"
Emily hesitated.
Everything about this woman felt strange now.
Not powerful.
Not distant.
Afraid.
She slowly untied the leather cord and placed the ring into Victoria's trembling palm.
Victoria turned it over.
Inside the band, nearly hidden beneath decades of wear, were three tiny engraved letters.
V.S.B.
A sound escaped Victoria that wasn't quite a sob.
The room shifted uneasily.
Guests exchanged confused looks.
Someone quietly instructed the musicians to stop playing.
Emily stared at Victoria.
"You know this ring."
Victoria laughed once.
A broken laugh.
"I bought it when I was nineteen."
Emily blinked.
"What?"
"It wasn't expensive."
Victoria rubbed her thumb over the engraving.
"I worked evenings in a bookstore. Sarah said expensive jewelry made promises feel fake."
May you like
Emily felt the floor disappear beneath her.
"You knew my mother?"
