The Maid Wearing Her Lost Daughter's Necklace
Chapter 1: The Necklace
"Where did you get this necklace?"
The elegant woman crossed the bedroom so quickly that the young maid dropped the sheet she was folding.
Lady Eleanor Whitmore grabbed the girl's shoulders and stared at the emerald pendant around her neck. Her usual calm expression had disappeared.
"There are only two like it," Eleanor said, her voice shaking. "And one was lost years ago."
The maid looked frightened.
Her name was Sofia. She had worked at the Whitmore estate for only three months. She was quiet, careful, and always tried to stay unnoticed.
Eleanor lifted the necklace with trembling fingers.
The pendant was rectangular, framed with tiny diamonds, and set with a deep green emerald. A small mark was engraved on the back.
Two roses around a crown.
Eleanor knew that mark.
She had designed it herself.
"The nun who raised me said it was the only thing my parents left me," Sofia whispered.
Eleanor released her and turned toward the dressing table.
A dark blue jewelry box stood open beside the mirror.
Inside lay another necklace.
Exactly the same.
Eleanor looked at her own reflection, then at Sofia behind her.
Her face turned pale.
Twenty years earlier, Eleanor had given one necklace to her older daughter, Isabel. She kept the other for Isabel's twin sister, who disappeared only hours after birth.
The family had been told the baby died.
There had been no body.
No funeral.
Only a closed coffin and a doctor who refused to answer questions.
Eleanor pressed one hand to her chest.
"What is your birthday?" she asked.
Sofia answered softly.
Eleanor's knees nearly gave way.
It was the same day.
The same year.
She looked again at the girl's eyes, the shape of her face, and the tiny dimple near her mouth.
"That can't be..." Eleanor whispered.
Then the bedroom door opened.
Her husband, Charles Whitmore, stood there.
The moment he saw the two necklaces, his expression changed.
"Where did you find her?" he asked.
Eleanor turned slowly.
"You knew?"
