Chapter One: The Falling Bouquet

“Transfer the shares to me,” he said. “Then I’ll let the doctor see the child.” Serena looked up. The hope in her eyes had burned down to ash. Then she looked directly at Mira, across an impossible distance of time and space, and silently formed two words: Save me. Sound crashed back. Mira was kneeling amid broken crystals, crushing the bouquet in her hands. The safety cable had caught the chandelier; only its decorations had fallen. As guests shouted, Theo rushed over—not to comfort Serena, but to berate the staff. “Do you know what this wedding cost?” “Your nose is bleeding,” Jo said, forcing her way through. Mira wiped away a bright streak. Set into the bouquet’s ribbon was an old silver clasp engraved with a bird in flight.