"You? In a Place Like This?" She Said Before the Manager Bowed

CHAPTER 1 - THE WOMAN IN WHITE

"You? In a place like this? Even the price tags would scare you."

The voice cut across the soft music and polished calm of the jewelry store.

Elena Moreau kept her hand resting on the curved glass counter.

She looked up.

Camila Reyes stood on the other side of the counter in a burgundy velvet dress, one brow lifted, one arm looped through the sleeve of a tall man in a charcoal suit. He looked embarrassed already. Camila looked delighted.

"Do you know her?" the man asked quietly.

Camila gave a sharp laugh. "Sadly, yes. She never climbed out of poverty."

For one painful second, Elena was twenty again. Standing in a borrowed coat. Pretending not to hear the whispers.

She raised her eyes, calm now, and met Camila's stare.

Before she could answer, Martin, the store manager, hurried across the marble floor. He stopped beside Elena and bent his head.

"Madam, forgive me. You arrived early; your private collection is ready."

Camila's face changed so fast it was almost crueler than the insult. Her mouth parted. The man beside her straightened and looked from Elena to Martin.

Elena did not raise her voice.

"Please show them the collection."

Martin signaled toward the back salon with instant obedience.

Camila swallowed. "Private collection?"

Elena gave her a small, restrained smile. "Yes."

She should have walked away then. She knew that.

But when Camila's companion finally looked directly at her, Elena felt the air leave her lungs.

There was a thin white scar beside his right eyebrow.

A scar she had seen on a six-year-old boy the night her sister disappeared.

And his name, Martin murmured a second later, was Daniel Reyes.