Chapter 1 - The Girl Who Raised the AxeThe sanctuary of Grace Covenant Church had never been this silent.
Rows of mourners sat beneath towering stained-glass windows, dressed in black, their faces solemn beneath the golden glow of the chandeliers. At the center of the altar stood a pristine white casket covered in white roses.
It was supposed to be a memorial.
It was supposed to be the final goodbye to David Vance.
Then Chloe stepped forward.
The ten-year-old girl was small enough to disappear among the adults, yet there was something terrifyingly determined in her brown eyes.
She gripped a heavy axe with both hands.
Someone screamed.
Chloe swung.
CRACK!
The axe buried itself into the white lid.
Wood exploded across the altar.
Gasps ripped through the congregation.
Before anyone could understand what they were seeing, Chloe raised the axe again.
“Stop!” someone shouted.
But Chloe had already made her decision.
She wasn't destroying a coffin.
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She was destroying a lie.
And somewhere in the front row, Eleanor Vance realized that the one thing she had spent decades protecting was about to be exposed.
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