When they returned upstairs, the room felt different—lighter, almost alive. Liam carefully lifted the piano lid. A faint shimmer glowed beneath the strings. He reached in and pulled out a heart-shaped locket, its gold dulled by time. Emily brushed away the dust. Inside were two tiny portraits: a woman in pearls and a man in a railway uniform. The same initials were engraved inside—C.W. and H.B.—and on the back, a single word: Forever.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The sunlight pierced through a broken window, reflecting off the locket and filling the room with golden light. Emily smiled faintly. “They kept their promise,” she whispered. Liam nodded, slipping the locket back onto the piano. As they stepped outside, the forest was calm again, the mist fading into the trees. Birds sang softly overhead. Liam turned for one last photo of the mansion, glowing in the morning light.
The truth wasn’t about ghosts or curses. It was about a love strong enough to outlast time itself—a story written in silence, waiting a century to be found.