Chapter 9: The First Mother
Evelyn couldn't feel her hands.
She stared at the photograph on her phone.
Two newborns.
Two dates.
One name.
Her name.
Sarah stood beside her.
“What is it?””
Evelyn handed her the phone.
Sarah read the message.
Her face collapsed.
“No.””
Claire took it next.
She stared at the photograph.
“That's impossible.””
Marcus looked over her shoulder.
“Why?””
Claire pointed to the babies.
“The one on the left.””
“The June sixteenth baby?””
“Yes.””
“That was mine.””
“How do you know?””
“Because I saw her.””
Evelyn looked at her.
“You saw both?””
Claire shook her head.
“I saw one.””
“Which one?””
“The June sixteenth baby.””
Evelyn's voice became fragile.
“Then I gave birth to the June seventeenth baby.””
Claire looked at her.
“No.””
The word was quiet.
But absolute.
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
“What?””
“You didn't give birth on June seventeenth.””
Sarah stepped backward.
Maya looked confused.
Evelyn stared at Claire.
“Of course I did.””
Claire shook her head.
“The hospital altered the date.””
“Why?””
“Because they needed to create a gap between the births.””
Evelyn's mind raced.
“You're saying I gave birth on June sixteenth.””
“Yes.””
“And you?””
“June sixteenth.””
Evelyn's face went pale.
“So we both gave birth the same day.””
Claire nodded.
“At the same hospital.””
Sarah whispered, “Two mothers. Two babies.””
Claire looked at her.
“And one plan.””
Evelyn suddenly remembered something.
A nurse had told her that night:
There was another mother in the ward.
She had forgotten.
Or perhaps she had been made to forget.
“What was her name?”” Evelyn asked.
Claire's eyes filled.
“Claire Whitaker.””
Evelyn stared.
“Thomas's wife?””
“Yes.””
“You were married to him?””
“For twenty-one years.””
“And you knew?””
“I knew something was wrong.””
“Not enough.””
“No.””
Claire looked at Maya.
“Not enough.””
Maya stepped closer.
“Why did they choose me?””
Claire crouched.
“They didn't choose you.””
“Then who did?””
Claire looked at Evelyn.
“Your father chose his own blood.””
Maya frowned.
“I don't understand.””
Evelyn knelt beside her.
“Neither do I.””
Claire pointed toward Maya's necklace.
“Open the locket.””
Evelyn hesitated.
“Why?””
“Because your mother put something inside it.””
“My mother?””
Claire nodded.
“Something she wanted you to find.””
Evelyn opened the locket.
The old photograph slid slightly.
Behind it was another tiny compartment.
She had never noticed it.
Her fingernail caught the edge.
It opened.
Inside was a miniature strip of paper.
Three words.
*Not your daughter.*
Evelyn's breathing stopped.
Sarah whispered, “What?””
Evelyn handed it over.
Sarah read it.
Her eyes widened.
“That doesn't mean what you think.””
“Then tell me what it means.””
“I can't.””
“You've been saying that all night.””
Sarah looked at Maya.
“I was trying to protect you.””
“From the truth?””
“From the wrong truth.””
Evelyn stood.
“What does that mean?””
Sarah's tears finally fell.
“I wasn't your daughter's mother.””
Evelyn stared.
“What?””
“I was the woman who raised her.””
Maya's face crumpled.
“Mom…”
Sarah immediately pulled her close.
“I am your mother.””
“But you said—”
“I said I wasn't your birth mother.””
Evelyn's world tilted.
Claire closed her eyes.
“I knew this would happen.””
Evelyn turned to her.
“Then tell me.””
Claire nodded.
“You weren't Maya's birth mother either.””
Silence.
Maya looked between them.
“Then who is?””
Claire took a deep breath.
“Your mother is alive.””
Sarah looked horrified.
“No.””
Evelyn whispered, “Who?””
Claire looked at the ballroom entrance.
At the woman standing there.
Nobody had heard her arrive.
She was elderly.
Elegant.
Gray hair swept into a perfect bun.
A pearl necklace around her throat.
Evelyn stopped breathing.
“Mom?””
The woman smiled.
“Hello, Evelyn.””
Evelyn stumbled backward.
Her mother had been dead for twenty-eight years.
She had attended the funeral.
She had watched the coffin lowered.
She had scattered flowers over the grave.
Yet the woman standing in front of her looked exactly the same.
Maya clutched Sarah.
Sarah whispered, “That's impossible.””
The woman smiled.
“Not tonight.””
Evelyn's voice trembled.
“You're dead.””
“I was supposed to be.””
Claire stepped forward.
“You shouldn't have come.””
The older woman looked at her.
“Neither should you.””
Evelyn stared.
“What is happening?””
Her mother walked toward her.
“You've spent thirty years blaming your father.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“He lied to me.””
“Yes.””
“He stole my baby.””
“Yes.””
“He told me she died.””
“Yes.””
Evelyn's voice cracked.
“Then why are you here?””
Her mother stopped.
“Because your father wasn't the one who made the decision.””
Evelyn's heart sank.
“Who was?””
Her mother looked at Maya.
“I was.””
Sarah's eyes filled with fear.
“You switched the babies.””
The older woman nodded.
“I did.””
Evelyn stared at her.
“Why?””
“Because one baby was going to die.””
Claire stepped forward.
“That's not what happened.””
The older woman looked at her.
“You still don't understand.””
“Then explain.””
She pointed at Maya.
“That child was sick.””
Sarah shook her head.
“No.””
“She was born with the same blood disorder as my son.””
Evelyn's eyes widened.
“Your son?””
“My grandson.””
Claire looked confused.
“You had another child?””
The older woman smiled.
“Not another child.””
She touched Maya's cheek.
“Another heir.””
Maya recoiled.
Evelyn slapped her mother's hand away.
“Don't touch her.””
Her mother looked almost amused.
“You still don't know what she carries.””
“I don't care.””
“You should.””
“She's a child.””
“She is the key to everything.””
Sarah stepped forward.
“You're lying.””
The older woman looked at her.
“Ask your mother.””
Sarah froze.
“My mother?””
The woman nodded.
“Ask her what she did the night Maya was born.””
Sarah's face drained of color.
Evelyn turned toward her.
“What did your mother do?””
Sarah opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
The older woman smiled.
“She didn't steal the baby.””
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
“She chose her.””
Claire whispered, “No…”
The woman continued.
“She chose which girl would live.””
Evelyn stared at Maya.
Then at Sarah.
“Which girl?””
The old woman looked directly at Maya.
“The one who was supposed to die.””
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
“Me?””
Sarah broke down.
“No.””
The old woman nodded.
“Yes.””
A phone rang.
Everyone turned.
This time it was Claire's.
She answered with shaking hands.
A man's voice whispered:
“Come to the hospital.””
Claire froze.
“Thomas?””
“No.””
The voice laughed softly.
“Thomas has been dead for six months.””
Claire's face went white.
“Then who is this?””
The caller replied:
“The baby you buried.””
Claire dropped the phone.
Evelyn stared at her.
“What did he say?””
Claire couldn't speak.
The phone screen lit again.
A new message appeared.
A photograph.
A woman lying unconscious in an old hospital room.
Her face was hidden beneath an oxygen mask.
But behind her ear was a crescent-shaped birthmark.
And beneath the photograph were four words:
*She is your real mother.*
Sarah looked at the image.
May you like
Then screamed.
“That's my mother.””
