Prologue
I was four months pregnant when my husband had sex with me. Our baby’s heart stopped. I had to go through a D&C alone.
At the hospital, a young woman walked in holding a baby. On the baby’s wrist was the lucky bracelet I had custom‑made for my own child. She kept showing off how good her husband was to her.
My heart dropped. I told myself not to overthink it.
Then I saw my husband in the hallway. He had his arms around her and called her “babe.”
My whole world collapsed.
Chapter 1
After ten years of marriage,
I finally got pregnant.
I was so happy, so excited for our long-awaited child.
Then, his heartbeat just… stopped.
My baby was gone.
I was rushed in for a D&C. Lying alone in the hospital room, I was furious. My husband said he’d be there "any minute," but I was already out of surgery, and he was still nowhere to be seen.
"Hey there, did you just have your baby too? My husband stayed with me the whole time during labor! He says he’s obsessed with our big, healthy boy. Says he looks just like him as a baby!"
"He even went ahead and booked us this VVIP room, said he wanted me to be comfortable."
"Oh, by the way, where’s your husband? You’re all alone?"
A girl, who looked barely out of her teens, walked into my room holding a swaddled baby.
She acted overly familiar, all concerned that I was by myself.
Then my eyes landed on the gold bracelet on her baby’s ankle, and the world started to spin.
I had custom-made a "lucky bracelet" just like that for my baby.
This… this couldn't be a coincidence.
My face went pale. I dug my nails into my palms so hard they drew blood, trying to fight the pain in my chest.
The girl seemed not to notice my state and kept chattering on, trying to comfort me:
"It's okay, sweetie. I know your husband’s not here, but here, have some of my soup."
"My husband made it. He was so extra, he skimmed off every bit of fat. Said it had to be healthy for me."
"He makes it every single day. I’m so sick of it!"
"I tell him to stop, but he won’t listen. He’s determined to make sure I get all the nutrition I need after having the baby."
With a sweet, innocent expression, she opened her thermos and slid a bowl of hearty chicken soup my way.
The bowl held rich, dark meat chicken. The kind you only get from a specialty farm.
I thought to myself, this girl is so lucky to have a man like that.
Last month, I’d asked my husband, Mark, to ask his mom to get us some fresh chicken from their countryside connections.
He shut me down, saying everyone was too busy. Didn’t even ask his mom.
When I kept pushing, he snapped, "You’re just pregnant. Stop being so demanding."
The sight of that warm soup made my blood run cold.
I looked up at the baby in her arms again. He was a cute, chubby boy.
But… there was something familiar about his face.
My gaze drifted back to the gold bracelet on his ankle. It looked exactly like the one I’d had made.
I’d put so much effort and money into that bracelet for my baby. I even had our initials engraved on it. I knew every single detail.
I remembered showing it to Mark. He’d been impressed, said it was beautiful. Then he’d slipped it into his pocket, saying he wanted to show his mom.
A week later, when I asked for it back, he got evasive.
When I finally got upset, tears welling up, I started hitting his arm, begging him to find it.
His first reaction? "Are you crazy?"
I stared at him in disbelief, and only then did he look guilty, his eyes reddening as he apologized. "I’m sorry, babe. Mom lost it. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to cause problems between you two. It was an accident, okay? Please don't be mad."
He’d held me, rubbed my belly, and whispered, "Don't cry. I’ll get our baby another one. An even bigger, better one!"
But that "bigger, better" bracelet never came. Instead, here was my custom bracelet on this baby.
A sick feeling settled in my stomach.
I studied the baby’s face again, more closely.
The more I looked, the more he looked like the baby pictures I’d seen of my husband, Mark.
