Chapter 5 - The Missing Flower Girl
The distraction was deliberate.
Maren learned that later.
At the time, it felt ordinary.
A wedding assistant asked Harold to speak with one of the trustees.
Daphne’s mother came looking for the florist.
Two staff members entered with garment bags.
The room became crowded.
Elodie tugged Maren’s sleeve.
“Mommy, bathroom.”
Maren knelt.
“I’ll take you.”
“I can show her.”
Celestine stood near the doorway.
Maren’s entire body stiffened.
“No.”
Celestine rolled her eyes.
“You think I’m going to murder a child in a hallway?”
The words hit strangely.
Too specific.
Maren grabbed Elodie’s hand.
“I said no.”
Celestine shrugged and walked away.
Five minutes later, Elodie was with a wedding attendant named Nora while Maren returned to sign one document Harold needed.
It should have taken thirty seconds.
It took two minutes.
When Maren stepped back into the hall, Nora was alone.
“Where’s Elodie?”
Nora blinked.
“Her aunt came for her.”
Maren froze.
“What aunt?”
“The blonde woman. She said you asked her to bring Elodie to the flower-girl photographs.”
Maren ran.
She searched the dressing room.
Empty.
Terrace.
Empty.
Rose garden.
Empty.
Then she saw one tiny white shoe lying near the path behind the hedges.
“Elodie!”
No answer.
Maren followed the stone path.
It led away from the wedding.
Toward the cliffs.
She began sprinting.
Ahead, Celestine’s champagne dress appeared between the trees.
“Elodie!”
The child screamed.
“Mommy!”
Maren broke through the last line of shrubs.
And the world stopped.
Celestine was standing at the edge.
Elodie was in her hands.
Not beside her.
Not near her.
Over the cliff.
Her legs hung in empty air.
Maren couldn’t hear the wedding music anymore.
Only her daughter crying.
Celestine stared at Maren.
“You should have stayed gone.”
“Put her down.”
“She destroyed everything.”
“She’s four years old.”
“She exists.”
Maren took one careful step.
Celestine tightened her jaw.
“Do you know what happens when Mercer opens that envelope?”
“I don’t care.”
“I lose everything.”
Maren finally heard the truth.
Not jealousy.
Not family honor.
Money.
Power.
Control.
Celestine’s entire life had been built around keeping Adrian’s child legally nonexistent.
And Elodie had just returned.
“Celestine,” Maren whispered, “give me my daughter.”
Celestine leaned forward.
“GET OUT OF MY FAMILY.”
Her fingers began to open.
Maren lunged.
Seconds later Elodie was back in her arms.
Seconds after that Celestine rushed them.
And seconds after that Celestine went over the cliff.
When Adrian arrived, he saw only the aftermath.
May you like
But someone else had seen almost everything.
High above the cliff path, a small red light blinked on the wedding videographer’s drone.
