Chapter 2: The Memory Beneath the Skin
He knelt down in front of her, ignoring the polished marble floor beneath his expensive suit.
“What’s your name?” he asked gently.
“Lily.”
“Lily…” he repeated, as if testing the name against a memory buried deep within him.
“Your mother… what does she look like?”
The girl’s lips quivered. “She used to smile a lot,” Lily said. “But now she just sleeps… and coughs.”
A sharp pain twisted in his chest.
He rolled up her sleeve further, exposing the tattoo completely.
“Forever.”
His vision blurred.
Years ago, under a summer sky, his wife had laughed as she showed him the exact same word inked onto her skin.
“Forever,” she had said. “No matter what happens.”
And then she disappeared without a trace.
May you like
No body. No answers. No goodbye.
Until now.
