Chapter 1

After five years of struggling with depression, I pulled myself out of it.

I stopped mistaking other people's children for my own.

I stopped pushing my husband away at night. I was even pregnant with our second child.

Then, at a class reunion, an old classmate who used to work in labor and delivery got a little drunk.

She patted me on the shoulder and sighed. "I feel so sorry for your adoptive sister, Emily Shaw.

"She was in that car accident five years ago, and it damaged her uterus. She can't have children."

My mind went blank.

But Emily brought home a healthy baby boy.

For years, my entire family treated that child like he was the most precious thing in the world. They named him Lucas Shaw.

Meanwhile, after losing my own child, I wanted to die more times than I could count.

That night, I pulled a few strands of hair from Lucas's head and sent them in with a sample of my own for an expedited DNA test.

The result came back. It read: [Confirmed biological match.]

I rushed home like crazy, threw the report in my family's faces, and grabbed Lucas.

I broke down, sobbing. "Oh, Lucas! I'm your real mother."

Lucas shoved me away and ran into Emily's arms, crying.

My dad heard him crying, and his face darkened. "Nonsense! Don't say things like that to Lucas."

My mom covered Lucas's ears and pleaded with me. "Your sister only wanted a child. You can still have more. Let her keep Lucas. Please."

I turned to my husband, David Reed, who had been silent the entire time. "You knew about this, too?"

David was quiet for a long moment before answering. "Don't blame your parents. It was my idea."

My voice came out hoarse. "Why?"

He answered calmly. "Your sister can't have children because she saved my life. I owe her. Lucas is older now. He can decide for himself whether he wants you as his mother."

The living room fell silent.

Lucas was still crying in Emily's arms, his little hands clutching her shirt so tightly, as if I were the one trying to tear him away from her.

I held the DNA test results. My fingertips felt numb.

The words "confirmed biological match" seemed to burn into my eyes like shards of glass.

So for five years, I hadn't lost my child.

They took my child from me and then watched me fall apart.

I looked up at David, my voice trembling. "So, because Emily can't have children, you all decided to take my boy and give him to her?"

David stood beside the coffee table, his face tense. But he didn't deny it.

After a few seconds, he spoke in a low voice. "Sarah, Lucas is only a little boy."

I stared at him. The whole thing was so absurd that I almost laughed. "He's a little boy, so he doesn't deserve to know who his real mother is?"

I took a step forward, and Lucas cried even harder, wrapping his arms around Emily's neck. "Mommy, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go with Aunt Sarah."

Aunt. The word hit me right in the chest, and the pain nearly knocked me off my feet.

I looked at his little face.

Lucas's eyes were shaped like mine. The way he pressed his lips together was like mine. Even the way his nose turned red when he cried too hard was like mine.

But he was clinging to someone else, trembling because he was afraid of me.

Emily's eyes turned red. She held Lucas close and whispered something to him before looking up at me, hurt written all over her face.

"Sarah, if you really want him back, then take him." Emily paused. "I was never his real mother anyway."

She said it so gently, but Lucas reacted as if his whole world were falling apart.

He cried so hard he could barely catch his breath. "Mommy, don't leave me! I'll be good. I won't go."

I stood there, frozen. My throat tightened. I couldn't get a single word out.

My mom rushed over and yanked me back, her face twisted with anger. "Look at what you've done to Lucas. You scared him half to death.

"Emily has raised him all these years, and now you show up with a piece of paper and think you can take him away?"

I stumbled from her yank, and suddenly the absurdity of it all hit me. "Take him away? Mom, I gave birth to him."

My mom avoided my gaze and didn't say a word.

My dad sat on the couch and spoke heavily. "What's done is done. What's the point of fighting about it now?

"You're pregnant again, aren't you? Lucas is already used to having Emily as his mom. You should let him go."