She opened the blanket with shaking hands. A sharp cry cut through the storm, straight into her chest. She dropped to her knees in the mud.
A baby.
Someone had thrown a baby away like garbage.
Shock lasted only a second. Lily pulled off her coat and wrapped the baby against her chest. “It’s okay… I’ve got you,” she whispered, rocking him. His cries softened, as if he understood the promise.
As she adjusted the blanket, her fingers brushed metal. A silver chain with a rectangular tag. She wiped it clean and read the name etched into it under a flash of lightning:
REYNOLDS.
She knew that name. Daniel Reynolds. Claire Reynolds. The wealthy couple whose faces appeared on magazines and billboards. People with guarded homes and shining towers.
“So you’re theirs,” she murmured, dizzy. “And they left you here?”
She looked at the baby’s tiny face. “It doesn’t matter who you belong to. Nobody deserves this.”
She tucked the necklace into her pocket and started walking toward the city.