Chapter 1 - THE MARK BENEATH HER CUFF.
At the Whitmore Foundation’s centennial gala, Mara Ellis was expected to move quietly, smile politely, and disappear whenever the wealthy guests finished looking at her.
The ballroom had been restored to resemble the grand American hotels of the 1930s, with emerald drapes, gold balconies, crystal chandeliers, and waiters trained never to interrupt old-money conversations.
Mara carried soup to Helena Whitmore, the silver-haired matriarch whose family name appeared on hospitals, libraries, and half the buildings downtown.
As Mara lowered the porcelain bowl, her left sleeve slipped back.
A small red crescent-shaped birthmark appeared on the inside of her wrist.
Helena stopped breathing.
She caught Mara’s hand with surprising urgency and turned the mark toward the chandelier light.
“Where did you get this?”
Guests nearby stared as though a server had committed an offense simply by being noticed.
Mara tried to pull back gently.
“I was born with it.”
Helena opened the antique velvet purse beside her plate and removed a silver crescent locket engraved with tiny flowers.
Inside was a faded photograph of a baby wearing a bracelet with the same symbol.
Mara’s face lost color.
“That was my mother’s bracelet.”
Before Helena could answer, her son Preston Whitmore crossed the ballroom and tore Mara’s wrist from his mother’s hand.
He called for security.
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But when he saw the crescent mark, his anger vanished for one second.
What replaced it was fear.
