Chapter 5 - THE UNBROKEN ECHO
The three children were leaning forward as far as their leather safety straps would allow, their small hands grasping the air toward her yellow uniform.
The first child on the left leaned his head, his lower lip trembling slightly, and whispered a single word into the silent air:
"Mama."
The second child immediately echoed his brother, her small voice rising in pitch as she reached out with both hands:
"Mama."
The third child, sitting in the rightmost chair, looked down into her eyes with bright, tear-filled clarity, his voice joining the chorus:
"Mama..."
The Waitress went completely, rigidly still on her knees, her hands remaining frozen above the pool of water and glass.
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Across the table, Adrienne Sterling’s dark, commanding composure dissolved entirely. The color drained from his face, leaving his cheekbones stark and hollow under the chandelier lights. He stared at the woman in the pale yellow dress as if a spectre had just materialized through the marble floor—a woman who had vanished from his life in a firestorm on a rainy night two years ago.
"Who are you?" Adrienne whispered, his voice cracking with a terrifying mixture of shock, fury, and disbelief.
