There was also a flower necklace. On the day her daughter turned one month old, she had given it to her as a gift.
She flung the box open.
And in the very next instant, she slumped down, utterly stunned.
She picked up the red cloth bundle she had carefully preserved in the corner and opened it with trembling hands. Her mind went completely blank.
Two identical jade locks lay clearly before her.
Identical.
So alike they might as well have been the same object.
The only difference was that Lynn's jade lock showed more signs of wear.
"How is this possible..."
She murmured, dazed.
This jade lock had been passed down through generations of her family. There had only ever been one child in each generation, and the elders of old had entrusted it with their heartfelt wish that the child would grow up healthy. There had never been a second one.
Trembling, she tried to pick up the rusty key inside the cloth bundle.
Nervously.
She slowly inserted it into the lock Lynn had given her.
Click.
The jade lock sprang open.
And the moment it opened, all thought stopped. There was only the unlocked jade lock, lying quietly before her.
The living room.
She walked back in, looking somewhat lost, and sat wordlessly on the sofa beside Lynn. She stared hard at this child who looked so much like her, clutching the two identical locks tightly in her hands.
It was as though she wanted to see straight through him. If she caught even the slightest hint of a lie in his eyes, she would throw him out without mercy.
But there was none.
His eyes were frighteningly pure-so pure they hardly seemed to belong to a ten-year-old child.
"This is absurd..."
His mother shook her