Chapter 2

There were over a hundred photos in the hidden album.

I scrolled through them one by one.

The first few were landscapes, nothing special.

I kept going.

Then I found a photo of a woman's hand.

She was wearing a ring.

I knew that ring instantly. It was the exact same one sitting on my finger.

David once told me he spotted them on a business trip, thought they looked nice, and bought a pair.

He gave one to me as a gift.

But what about the other one?

He told me he'd lost it.

But now, the truth was right in front of me.

He never lost it.

It was right there, on another woman's hand.

I kept scrolling.

There was a group shot.

David was standing next to a woman.

She had a mask on, only her eyes visible.

But I recognized that dress.

A blue floral dress.

That was Jessica's dress.

She wore it at last year's family dinner.

I remember Lily even said, "Aunt Jessie looks so pretty."

I kept scrolling.

At the very end, there was a video.

It was only three seconds.

A woman in a hospital gown, half-lying on a hospital bed.

She was cradling a newborn in her arms. The baby was red and wrinkly, like a newborn.

David's voice came through the video. "You did well."

The woman looked up.

She'd taken off her mask.

It was Jessica. No doubt about it.

I glanced at the date on the video.

Eight years ago.

March 17th.

The day I was supposed to give birth to Sophie.

I remembered that day.

I remembered walking into the operating room.

I remembered signing that critical condition form.

I remembered blacking out after the anesthesia.

When I woke up, a nurse placed a baby in my arms. "Congratulations, it's a girl."

I cried.

I thought that was the baby I nearly died to bring into this world.

Now, staring at his phone screen, everything felt unreal.

Jessica, holding that baby.

The date on the video was March 17th.

The same day.

Was it the same baby?

I set the phone down.

My palms were slick with sweat.

Then it hit me.

Sophie had always been especially close to Jessica.

Every time Jessica came over, Sophie would stick to her like glue.

I used to joke, "You and Jessie are like you're actually mother and daughter."

Jessica would laugh and say, "Of course, Sophie and I have a special bond."

A special bond.

Now, thinking about those words made me feel sick.

Alex was the same way.

When he was two, he had a high fever and cried no matter who held him.

But the moment Jessica picked him up, he'd calm right down.

I'd say, "Jessie, you're a natural with kids."

Jessica would laugh and say, "Maybe I was born to be a mom."

She really was born for this.

She really was a natural.

Because she was their real mom.

I turned off his phone and put it back in the living room to charge, like nothing happened.

David came out after doing the dishes and shot me a quick look, "You don't look so good."

"A little tired," I replied.

"You should get some sleep." he said.

"Yeah."

I went back to the bedroom and lay down on the bed closing my eyes.

But that three-second video kept looping in my head.

Jessica in a hospital gown.

Cradling a newborn in her arms.

David said, "You did well."

March 17th.

That day, I was the one on the operating table.

After the anesthesia, I was out cold and didn't know a thing.

I never knew my baby had been switched.

I never knew the child I brought home belonged to another woman.

I never knew that woman was my own cousin.

And even more than that where the baby I'd carried for nine months ended up.

I opened my eyes.

The ceiling light was still on.

David was in the next room, trying to get Lily to sleep.

I could hear him saying, "Lily, be good. Daddy's here."

Then another memory hit me.

Before I had Sophie, I'd had a miscarriage.

The doctor said it was my body's fault.

When I got pregnant with Sophie, I had to stay in bed for the first three months, to keep the baby safe.

David would personally make me medicine and soup every single day.

Those medicines, those soups...

I suddenly didn't dare to think any further.

I grabbed my phone.

Opened up an online shopping app.

Logged into David's account.

The password was still Jessica's birthday.

I scrolled through the order history.

All the way back to eight years ago.

There was an order.

The item was some kind of herbal medicine.

I didn't recognize it.

I took a screenshot, opened a search engine, and typed in the name of the medicine.

The search results popped up.

I stared at the screen.

That medicine was packed with ingredients that increase blood flow and break up clots.

Not safe for pregnant women.

High doses can cause a miscarriage.

The purchase date.

It was two weeks before my first miscarriage.