The woman dropped to her knees.

“I never chose between you.”

The barefoot boy stepped back.

“You knew about me?”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I knew I was carrying twins.”

Both boys froze.

“But when I woke up after the delivery, they told me only one survived.”

The barefoot boy looked down at the locket.

“Then why do I have this?”

The woman touched it with shaking fingers.

She recognized the engraving.

Her husband had ordered two identical lockets before the boys were born.

Her face suddenly changed.

“Who gave you this?”

The boy hesitated.

“My father.”

Her son frowned.

“Our dad?”

The barefoot boy shook his head.

“No. The man who says he bought me.”

Silence.

The woman went pale.

The boy reached inside his torn shirt and pulled out a folded hospital receipt.

A name was written across the bottom.

The woman recognized it instantly.

Her own father.

Her son whispered,

“Grandpa?”

The barefoot boy nodded.

“He told the man raising me that your family only needed one heir.”

The woman’s eyes filled with horror.

Then the boy looked at his identical brother.

“I didn’t come here for money.”

His voice cracked.

“I just wanted to know why you got a mother…”

He wiped his tears.

“…and I got sold.”