“Your sister.”

Maya stopped breathing.

“My sister?”

Adam nodded.

The room went silent except for the baby crying upstairs.

Maya shook her head.

“Rachel died three years ago.”

“No.”

Adam’s voice cracked.

“That’s what your mother told you.”

Maya stared at him.

“Why would she lie?”

Adam sat down slowly.

“Because Rachel was pregnant.”

Maya’s face changed.

“With our baby?”

Adam looked away.

“No.”

Maya stepped back.

“Then why was she in my daughter’s nursery?”

Adam reached into a drawer and pulled out an envelope.

Inside was a hospital bracelet.

The name printed on it was Rachel’s.

Beside it was the exact date Maya believed she had given birth.

Maya’s hands started shaking.

“What is this?”

Adam whispered,

“You had complications. You were unconscious for almost two days.”

She looked toward the stairs.

“No…”

“Your mother arranged everything.”

Maya’s eyes filled.

“Everything what?”

Adam swallowed.

“The baby you carried didn’t survive.”

Maya covered her mouth.

“And Rachel?”

“She had just given birth too.”

Maya stared at him in horror.

Adam continued.

“She disappeared afterward because your mother paid her to.”

Maya looked back at the frozen monitor image.

“So our daughter…”

Adam nodded through tears.

“Is Rachel’s.”

Maya’s knees nearly gave out.

Then the baby monitor crackled again.

A new recording started playing.

Rachel’s voice.

“Maya, if you ever find this…”

Maya looked up.

“…I didn’t give her away.”

A long pause.

“Your mother took her from me.”