The Scream Beside the Pool
Chapter 01 - The Scream Beside the Pool
The wedding reception at the Sterling estate was supposed to be perfect.
Crystal lights reflected across the indoor pool. Guests in black suits and evening gowns raised champagne glasses while soft music filled the glass-walled hall. At the center of it all stood Caroline Sterling in her ivory wedding dress, smiling beside her new husband, David.
Only one person seemed out of place.
A five-year-old boy named Noah stood near the edge of the pool, wearing a red cardigan and beige shorts. He was Caroline’s nephew, the son of her younger sister, Rachel.
Rachel had arrived late, dressed in a dark green gown and black jacket. Her face was tense, and she kept watching Noah as if she expected someone to take him.
Caroline noticed.
“You have been nervous all evening,” she said quietly. “What is wrong?”
Rachel looked toward David’s father, Victor Sterling, who was speaking with several board members near the bar.
“I found something in Mom’s old records,” Rachel whispered. “Something about Noah.”
Before Caroline could ask more, Victor called her away for photographs.
Rachel moved toward Noah.
At that exact moment, the lights flickered.
A waiter dropped a tray.
Noah turned, lost his balance, and slipped toward the water.
Rachel screamed and lunged forward.
She caught him by the arm just before he fell, but her momentum carried both of them to the floor beside the pool.
Guests gasped.
Caroline rushed over, followed by her father, Thomas.
“Noah!” Caroline cried.
Rachel pulled the boy into her arms. He was frightened but unharmed.
Then Victor stepped through the crowd.
His expression was not relief.
It was anger.
“You brought that child here after I told you not to,” he said.
Rachel stood slowly. “He has every right to be here.”
Victor lowered his voice. “Not after tonight.”
Caroline stared at him. “What does that mean?”
Rachel reached into her jacket and pulled out a folded DNA report.
Before she could open it, Victor grabbed her wrist.
The paper fell onto the wet floor.
Thomas picked it up.
His face changed as he read the result.
Noah was not Rachel’s son.
According to the report, he was Caroline’s biological child.
The music stopped.
Caroline looked at Noah, then at Rachel.
“That is impossible,” she whispered.
May you like
Rachel’s eyes filled with tears.
“No,” she said. “It is the truth they stole from you five years ago.”
