Prologue
Twenty-One Years Earlier
Rain hammered against the windshield, turning the winding country road into streaks of silver and black.
Inside the car, warm laughter filled the air.
“You’re cheating!”
A little boy leaned over the back seat, trying to peek at the camera his older brother held.
“I’m not cheating,” the older boy protested, laughing as he lifted the camera higher. “You’re just too slow.”
“Dad!” the younger boy complained dramatically. “Tell him to stop!”
Their father chuckled without taking his eyes off the road.
“Sit down before your mother blames me for whatever trouble you’re causing.”
“I wasn’t doing anything!” the older boy replied.
“That’s exactly what worries me.”
The car erupted in laughter again.
The older boy lowered the camera and snapped another photograph.
Click.
The flash illuminated the smiling faces inside the car for a split second.
His little brother groaned.
“You always take pictures.”
“So one day we’ll remember moments like this.”
The younger boy rolled his eyes.
“As if anyone could forget today.”
Outside, the rain grew heavier.
The headlights carved through the darkness as the car rounded another bend.
Then—
A pair of bright headlights appeared in the opposite lane.
Too close.
Too fast.
Their father gripped the steering wheel.
“Hold on!”
Tyres screamed against the wet road.
The camera slipped from the older boy’s hands.
Everything happened in a heartbeat.
A deafening crash.
Shattering glass.
Twisting metal.
A child’s frightened cry.
Then—
Silence.
The camera lay upside down in the rain.
Its cracked lens pointed toward the road.
“I’m sorry.”
Silence.
The rain swallowed the words before anyone could answer.
Then the voice came again—quieter this time.
“No…”
A trembling breath.
“I’m not sorry.”
Click.
The camera shutter clicked one last time.
Then everything went silent.
One final photograph remained undeveloped inside.
A photograph that would change everything.
Click.
