Chapter 1Sister’s Burden

My younger sister got pregnant out of wedlock and vanished after giving birth to a boy in a back-alley clinic.

The doctor used the address she left behind to find my family, leaving the baby with me.

My parents got on their knees and begged me to adopt him. Just like that, I, a single woman, began the arduous task of raising a child alone.

Years later, just as I’d finally raised him, my sister returned. On her arm was a rich businessman, a thick gold chain gleaming around his neck.

She clutched my son and sobbed, telling him I was a jealous monster who had stolen him at birth, tearing their family apart.

My son, my pride and joy, renounced me on the spot and ran into her arms. My parents threw me out of the house.

The neighbors’ gossip and condemnation became my personal hell. In utter despair, I threw myself from the roof of my apartment building.

When I open my eyes again, I’m back on the day my sister gave birth.

* * *

The pounding on my door started with the dawn, jolting me awake in a cold sweat.

This was it. In my last life, this was the exact moment the clinic doctor had hammered on our door, waking the entire neighborhood. He’d handed me the baby in front of everyone, scolding me for being an irresponsible mother.

Only later did I learn the baby was my sister’s. My parents had pleaded with me to keep him. Since I had no plans to marry anyway, I agreed. A choice I came to regret with every fiber of my being.

Hearing that sound again, a jolt of electricity shot through me. I scrambled out of bed and yanked the door open to see that same, familiar face.

“Lina,” the doctor began, his voice dripping with condescension. “You can’t just have a baby and abandon it. You know that’s illegal.”

The neighbors were already awake, their heads craning out of their doorways to watch the drama unfold.

I stared at him for a single, silent second. Then I ripped off my slipper and brought it down on his face with all my strength.

“You goddamn vulture!” I screamed, hitting him again and again. “How dare you show up at my door with this scam! I don’t even have a boyfriend, let alone a baby! Have you ever seen a woman who just gave birth hit this hard?!”

I gestured wildly at my own body. “Do I look like I just had a baby?!”

My furious assault left the doctor stunned and speechless. Mrs. Gable from across the hall was the first to find her voice.

“She’s right, you know. Lina goes to work every single day. I’ve never once seen her with a baby bump.”

“Yeah, you must have the wrong person.”

“Wait, I recognize him. Isn’t that the doctor from that sketchy clinic down the street?”

I planted my hands on my hips, my slipper still raised. “You sleazy old quack! You run a back-alley clinic and now you’re trying to pin a baby on me? That’s it, I’m calling the cops!”

The word “cops” made him panic. “I—I won’t press charges for the assault!”

I grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking his head back. “Oh, you won’t press charges? Too bad, because I’m not letting you run away!”

I pulled out my phone and dialed. “Hello, 911? I’d like to report a case of infant trafficking!”

“Don’t you dare say that!” he shrieked.

“You’d better have a good story for the police,” I snarled, “or I swear to God, I will burn your little clinic to the ground.”

Fate had given me a second chance, and I was unleashing every ounce of frustration and injustice from my past life.

When the police arrived, they found a bizarre scene: a doctor with a swaddled newborn, his face bruised and swollen, and me in my pajamas, wielding a slipper like a weapon.

The neighbors had all gathered, buzzing with speculation. The officers looked from the baby—so fresh its umbilical cord was still clamped—to the doctor.

“Alright, what’s going on here? Start talking.”

“She’s the one! The patient left this address and name!” he sputtered, pulling a medical file from his pocket.

An officer took it. The address was indeed mine, and the name on the file was Lina Scott.

I crossed my arms. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Someone obviously used my name to have a baby and is now trying to make me pay for it.”

Just as I finished speaking, my parents, who had been hiding inside, finally emerged.

“Lina,” my mother began, her voice wheedling, “since you’re not planning on getting married anyway, why don’t you just adopt him?”

“Are you serious, Mom? I’m not just going to randomly adopt a child who appeared out of nowhere! We have no idea who his parents are. What if they’re drug addicts? That stuff is genetic, you know. I’m not raising some ungrateful little monster!”

My parents were stunned into silence. The doctor’s face was a mask of fury. He shoved the baby into my arms. “This is your family’s problem! I’m done! You can tell Stella she can raise her own damn kid! If I’d known you people were this unreasonable, I never would have come!”

A collective gasp went through the crowd. The secret was out. The baby belonged to my sister, Stella.