Chapter 2 - The Sound of Iron
The heels of Clara’s designer pumps dug violently into the manicured turf as she broke into a full sprint. She ignored the shocked gasps of the high-society guests as she pushed past couples conversing near the marble fountain.
Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. The twilight sky above had turned a deep, bruised navy, casting long, menacing shadows across the green hedges surrounding the estate’s perimeter.
From the far edge of the property, near the massive black wrought-iron gate that separated the manicured estate from the dark, dense pine forest beyond, a faint, pitiful sound drifted through the cool night air.
It was a child sobbing.
"Lily!" Clara gasped, accelerating her pace, her sleeveless dress catching the sharp breeze.
She rounded the final high boxwood hedge and froze, the blood draining completely from her face.
Sitting on the cold, damp stone threshold of the iron gate was six-year-old Lily. She looked tiny and defenseless in her pale pink party dress, her golden curls tangled with dry leaves. But what made Clara’s stomach violently turn was the heavy, rusted steel chain wrapped three times around the little girl's frail wrists, securing her tightly to the iron bars of the gate like a stray animal.
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Standing beside the chained child was Arthur Sterling, the family’s senior attorney, dressed in a pristine tuxedo, casually swirling a glass of champagne as he watched the girl cry.
"Mommy!" Lily wailed, her tear-stained face lifting as she saw Clara. The cold steel links clanked loudly against the iron gate as she reached her small hands out as far as the chain would allow. "Mommy, am I really not yours? They said I don't belong to Daddy!"
