Chapter 2: The Lie My Husband Buried
HE LOOKED JUST LIKE MY SON... THEN I SAW THE BIRTHMARK
Chapter 1: The Boy in the Rain
The rain hammered against the pavement as if the sky itself was breaking apart.
Emily stood frozen.
Across the street, beneath a rusted awning, sat a little boy no older than seven.
The same dark eyes.
The same shape of face.
And that birthmark.
That dark red mark on the side of his neck.
The mark she had kissed a thousand times before.
The mark she had cried over when she lost him.
"Noah..." she whispered.
Her legs nearly gave out.
"Mom?" her son Ethan asked. "Why are you crying?"
Emily couldn't answer.
Seven years ago, after a terrible car accident, doctors told her that one of her twin boys had died.
She had been unconscious for days.
When she woke up, her husband Michael handled everything.
The funeral.
The paperwork.
The grief.
She never saw Noah's body.
At the time, she was too broken to question anything.
Now, staring across the street, every buried doubt exploded back to life.
Without thinking, she ran.
Cars honked.
Water splashed around her ankles.
The little boy looked up nervously as she approached.
His eyes widened.
For a moment, he looked just as shocked as she felt.
"What is your name?" Emily asked softly.
The boy clutched his hamburger tighter.
"Noah."
Her heart stopped.
Tears streamed down her face.
"Who are your parents?"
The boy lowered his head.
"I don't know."
Emily felt sick.
"Where do you live?"
He pointed toward an abandoned apartment building several blocks away.
"With Mr. Harris."
A cold feeling crawled up her spine.
Ethan finally caught up and stared at the boy.
The two children looked like mirror images.
Noah stared at Ethan.
Ethan stared back.
Neither spoke.
Then Noah whispered:
"He looks like me."
Before Emily could respond, a rough voice shouted from behind.
"There you are!"
A tall man in a dirty coat stormed toward them.
The moment he saw Emily, his face went pale.
Then he grabbed Noah's arm.
"Come on."
Noah flinched.
Emily stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The man avoided her eyes.
"Nobody."
Then he pulled Noah away into the rain.
But before disappearing around the corner, Noah looked back.
And Emily knew one thing for certain.
May you like
Someone had lied to her for seven years.
And she was about to find out who.
