Throughout the wave of greetings, bows, and carefully measured words being exchanged in front of the pack house, Vanessa stood quietly beside Elena, offering her presence as a pillar of calm and strength as expected of her.
She was always composed, always aware of her surroundings. But today, no amount of self-discipline could steady her thoughts, or stop her eyes from drifting.
Her gaze, again and again, kept returning to the little boy standing beside Williams.
He couldn't have been older than five or six, yet there was something so striking about him that it pulled at Vanessa's attention like a magnet. At first glance, it was the proud way he held himself, chin slightly raised, shoulders back, mirroring Williams's stance as if it were instinct. Then came the realization that stopped her breath in her chest.
The resemblance.
It was undeniable.
