Ten Minutes Before His Wedding, the Groom Found a Crying Little Girl Outside the Bridal Suite—Then She Handed Him a Letter His Bride Tried to Take Away
Ten minutes before his wedding, Ethan Cole found a little girl crying on the marble floor outside the bridal suite.
He had left the crowded ballroom because the music, cameras, and congratulations had begun to feel unreal. At thirty-six, Ethan was the public face of Cole Hotels, and his marriage to Madeline Pierce was being celebrated as both a love story and a powerful business partnership.
Then he saw the child.
She looked about eight years old. Her pale dress sparkled under the hallway lights, but one shoe was missing, and her hands were clenched around a small silver locket.
Ethan approached slowly and knelt.
“Are you hurt?”
The girl shook her head. Tears ran down her cheeks.
“Did you come with someone?”
“My grandmother brought me,” she whispered. “But the lady in the white dress told the guards to make us leave.”
Ethan glanced toward the closed bridal-suite doors.
“What is your name?”
“Lily Dawson.”
The last name meant nothing to him. The locket did.
It was shaped like a crescent moon, with a scratch across the center. Ethan had bought it when he was nineteen and given it to Claire Dawson, the first woman he had ever loved.
Claire had disappeared from his life seventeen years earlier after his father declared she was using him for money. Ethan had called and searched for months. Eventually, a letter arrived in Claire’s handwriting saying she never wanted to see him again.
“Where did you get that?” he asked.
“It was my mom’s.”
Ethan’s voice dropped. “Claire was your mother?”
Lily nodded. “She died six weeks ago.”
Before Ethan could ask another question, the bridal-suite door opened. Madeline stood there in her fitted white gown. Her face changed when she saw Lily.
Not surprise, Ethan realized.
Fear.
Madeline recovered quickly. “Security has been looking for this child. Her grandmother caused a scene downstairs.”
Lily moved closer to Ethan. “She said you already knew about me. She said you didn’t want me here.”
Ethan rose.
“Why would you tell her that?”
Madeline’s eyes flicked toward the locket. “Because this is obviously an attempt to stop our wedding.”
Lily reached into her pocket and produced a wrinkled envelope.
“My mom said I had to give this to Ethan Cole myself.”
Ethan recognized Claire’s handwriting before Lily said his name.
Madeline stepped forward. “That letter should go to our attorney.”
May you like
Ethan pulled it out of her reach.
“No,” he said. “It should go to me.”
