Chapter 5 - The Shattered Glass
A collective, gasp swept through the ballroom like a sudden gust of wind. Women covered their mouths, and several men stepped back in genuine shock.
Chloe was standing entirely on her own two feet.
Her body wobbled slightly, her balance uncertain, but the boy’s grip held her steady. She looked down at her feet, then up at her father, a radiance breaking across her tear-streaked face that Victor had not seen since before her mother died. Tears of overwhelming, unadulterated joy poured from her eyes as she let out a ringing laugh.
"Daddy! Look! I'm standing! I'm standing!" she squealed, taking one small, hesitant step forward.
Victor’s heart swelled with an emotional shock so violent it nearly rendered him unconscious. He wrapped his strong arms around her waist from his kneeling position, burying his face in her pale pink dress as he sobbed quietly. "My sweet girl... my miracle..."
Yet, while the room erupted into hushed murmurs of divine intervention and medical miracles, Victor’s sharp analytical mind kicked back into gear.
He lifted his head, his tear-filled eyes turning to look at the ragged boy who had brought about this impossible moment.
The boy was stepping backward into the crowd, his dirty hand retreating into the pocket of his frayed gray shirt. As he moved, the warm golden light from the chandeliers caught a faint glimmer of gold around his neck. Tucked beneath his filthy collar was a heavy, silver-and-gold medallion featuring a unique, engraved crest.
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Victor’s blood ran colder than ice.
He recognized that crest. It did not belong to any medical institute or religious order. It was the private, ancient insignia of the Blackwood family's secret trust—a medallion that had belonged exclusively to Victor’s late wife, Eleanor.
