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  Hello, Mom.”
    I stepped into the hospital ward, my voice soft as I took in the familiar sight. The open window let in a warm breeze, carrying the faint scent of antiseptic and fresh air. The couch in the corner.
    Mom looked cheerful, her cheeks slightly flushed as she chatted animatedly with the nurse.
    “Isla!” She beamed, lifting her arms toward me.
    I hurried over, embracing her tightly before pressing a kiss to her cheek. Gently, I placed a bouquet of daisies her favorite on the bedside table.
    “You look well,” I noted, watching the way her eyes sparkled as she batted her lashes, trying to look cute. Classic Mom.
    She was happy.
    She had no idea why I was really here.
    I had come to tell her about the Dubai trip—an announcement handed down by none other than my contract husband.
    And there was no way in hell I was going to agree to his condition.
    Still… maybe Dubai wasn’t such a bad idea.
    I needed the escape.
    After all, I was the one who had been assaulted by Drew and his mother, the one who had been manipulated and was still being manipulated. And, to top it all off, I had seen a dead body dangling from a rope—and a doppelgänger.
    Maybe a vacation was exactly what I needed.
    Even Candice had agreed when I told her everything. “Girl, it’s a free vacation. Take it.”
    And honestly, why should I feel guilty? I hadn’t done anything wrong.
    A free trip was a free trip.
    I’d never been to Dubai before. Hell, I’d never even stepped out of New York.
    Maybe it was time.
    I had asked Candice about Jake, and her only response was, “Jake who?”
    Mom gripped my hand tightly, her gaze sweeping over my face as if searching for something. For a moment, I thought she wouldn’t say it.
    But then, with a soft sigh, she did.
    “I saw what happened on the news with the Blackwoods.” Her voice was gentle but firm. “My dear, I think it’s time you call off this contract.”
    I blinked. “What?”
    “We can find another way. We can pay them back. We can save money. We can borrow.”
    I stared at her like she’d just suggested we rob a bank. Borrow? $500,000?
    “Mom,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s just six months. And this month is almost over—it’s already down to five. Plus…” I paused, watching her reaction. “I’ll be getting a million-dollar bonus.”
    Her eyes widened. “What?”
    I sat down next to her, squeezing her hand. “Mom… can I ask you something?”
    She turned to me fully now, brows knitting together in concern. “What is it, dear?”
    I hesitated only for a second before going straight for it.
    “Mom… do I have a twin?”
    She stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “What? What are you talking about, sweetheart?” Her fingers tightened around my arm. “What twin?”
    I met her gaze, my chest tightening. “Mom, don’t lie to me.”
    Her expression shifted from confusion to genuine shock. “No… you don’t have a twin. How could I give birth to two children and not know it? That’s impossible.”
    I hesitated, not wanting to push too hard, but she wouldn’t let it go.
    “Why did you ask?” she pressed. “Did you notice something? What did you see?”
    “Just let it go, Mom,” I murmured, hesitating.
    But she didn’t. Her grip on my arm tightened. “No, tell me. Did you hear this at the Blackwood mansion?”
    She rolled her eyes, but I didn’t miss the flicker of unease beneath her casual act.
    I met her gaze. “I saw a portrait, Mom. A woman… and she looked just like me.”
    ⸻
    “What are you talking about?” Mom frowned, glancing toward the window. The nurse had already left the room.
    “You don’t have a twin, Isla. I can assure you of that.”
    I held her gaze, my voice quiet but firm. “Mom, you can tell me. You don’t have to lie.”
    Her fingers tensed in her lap.
    “There’s no way someone could look exactly like me…. the same eye color, the same hair, the same—”
    “Isla,” she cut me off sharply. “You don’t have a twin.”
    I shot to my feet. “I can’t believe you’re lying to me like this. Is that why you never talked about Dad?”
    Her breath hitched. Tears welled in her eyes, slipping down her cheeks as she reached for me. I pulled away.
    Realization hit me like a wave. “So it’s true,” I whispered. “I have a twin, don’t I? What happened to her?”
    “Isla, I can explain,” she pleaded.
    I forced myself to sit back down. “Okay,” I said, arms crossed. “Go ahead. Explain.”
    She folded her arms over her stomach, eyes drifting to the window again, as if she could escape the weight of the past.
    “Your dad…” she hesitated, her voice cracking.
    I clenched my fists. “My dad what, Mom?”
    She exhaled shakily. “Your dad was a selfish man.”
    I scoffed. “I know that already. You made sure I did my whole life. Tell me about my twin.”
    She swallowed hard. “When I was young, I met your father. He was a fine man. Every woman’s dream.” She gave a hollow laugh, wiping at her wet cheeks. “I was just a girl in the Philippines, selling fish with your grandmother. Then he came along.”
    Her eyes shimmered as she looked at me, lost in memories.
    “He was a tourist. A white man, always dressed so nice, always smelling like expensive cologne instead of fish.” She smiled faintly before her expression darkened. “We met one night on the dock. It was… magical. He told me stories about America—New York, the city life, all the things I’d never dreamed of. He said he loved my eyes. My green eyes.”
    Her laugh was bitter now. “I was naïve,” she sniffed. “So naïve. I let myself fall for him. We spent time together, sneaking around at night. He gave me gifts, bought me a dress, my first real pair of pretty shoes. He made me feel special… like he really loved me.”
    Her hands trembled. “I didn’t know he was married. I didn’t know he had a whole family waiting for him back in the city.”
    I barely breathed as she continued.
    “One day, while working with your grandmother, I started feeling sick. I was throwing up. That’s when I realized…. I was pregnant.”
    Her voice cracked. “I couldn’t tell my mother. She would have been so disappointed. So I went to him… to your father. I needed to talk to him.”
    She shut her eyes, her shoulders shaking. “But he was gone. He’d left the night before… without a word. Without telling me.”
    Tears slid down her face, but she didn’t wipe them away this time.
    Unknowingly, I gripped her arms as she spoke, my own heart pounding in my chest.
    “Eventually,” she murmured, “I was carrying a bump around. I tried to find him. A friend of his, another tourist, gave me his number.” She paused, shaking her head. “But no matter how many times I dialed, I couldn’t reach him.”
    She let out a bitter laugh. “Your grandmother found out I was pregnant. To my surprise, she didn’t disown me. Instead, she told me that if I could earn enough money, I could go to the city… to find him.”
    Her gaze turned distant, lost in the memories.
    A nurse entered the room to adjust the windowsill. “Thank you,” I said as she bowed and slipped out, closing the door gently behind her.
    Mom watched the nurse leave, then cleared her throat and continued. “I remember my first time in New York,” she whispered. “It was beautiful. But getting here… it was the hardest thing I’d ever done at that age. And doing it while pregnant?” She exhaled shakily. “I won’t lie… I had to take some illegal routes to make it. I was desperate. I thought if I could just find your father, if I could tell him I was pregnant with his child… maybe, just maybe, he’d accept me. That we could be a family.”
    Her lips trembled. “Oh, how wrong I was.”
    She rubbed her arms, as if suddenly cold. “When I arrived, I was alone. I managed to find a small apartment in the Bronx, a weekly rental. The woman who owned it also ran a bar nearby. It wasn’t a place for a pregnant woman, but she looked out for me. I worked the afternoon shifts, never at night.”
    She forced a small, sad smile. “Nighttime was when the worst men came in. I might not have made it out unscathed.”
    She fell silent for a moment before continuing. “One day, I tried calling your father again. This time, the number worked. A maid answered.”
    Mom’s eyes glistened with fresh tears. “I’ll never forget how she sounded. She said, ‘Hello, you’re calling the Martin Muir residence. Sir Joseph Martin Muir is currently unavailable. Would you like to leave a message?’”
    A tremor ran through her voice. “I asked to speak to him. I told her it was urgent. But she said he wasn’t home… he was on a boat cruise.”
    Her throat bobbed as she swallowed hard. “With his wife.”
    My breath stilled.
    Then she let out a shuddering breath. “I almost had a heart attack. The moment I heard those words, I collapsed.”
    Her hands clenched into fists. “That was the day I went into labor.”
    Tears streamed down her face now, her body shaking. “I never knew he was married. I never knew,” she sobbed. “I was so stupid.”
    ⸻
    “I’m sorry, Mom.” My voice broke as I sobbed, guilt clawing at my chest. I had pushed her too far. She was crying now, her shoulders trembling, but she shook her head stubbornly.
    “No,” she sniffled. “I must tell you everything.”
    She took a shuddering breath before continuing.
    “When I went into labor, your grandmother was contacted. She cried—she wanted to be there, to see her grandchild. I was in labor for hours, longer than I thought possible. The woman who owned the rental stayed with me the entire time. She was kind. Some of my colleagues from the bar were there too. They didn’t leave my side.”
    She let out a humorless laugh. “And then… I gave birth.”
    Her fingers curled into the thin hospital blanket. “But it wasn’t just one child. When the first one came, the nurse said, ‘It’s a girl!’ I barely had time to register it before I heard them say, ‘Wait—there’s another.’”
    I held my breath, staring at her.
    “Then the third.”
    The room spun.
    Triplets?
    I was a triplet?
    My head reeled as Mom turned toward the window, as if the entire world’s joy lay beyond the glass.
    “I remember my first thought so clearly,” she whispered. “How would I take care of them? Three babies? I could barely afford to feed myself.”
    Her voice grew hollow. “The woman I worked for was shocked. Her first words were, ‘How will you pay rent now? You have three mouths to feed. You should give them up for adoption.’”
    I swallowed hard.
    “Then a friend… one of the girls I worked with asked, ‘Who’s the father?’” Mom hesitated, her grip tightening on the sheets. “I didn’t want to say his name. He was well-known. But in the end, I did.”
    A bitter smile twisted her lips. “And that’s how they found him.”
    Her voice trembled now. “They contacted his wife first. Then they contacted him.”
    She exhaled shakily. “I had three girls”.
    My entire body stiffened.
    “I was still in the hospital when he came.” Mom’s tone darkened, her fingers clenching into fists. “Oh, he came alright. But not in the way I had foolishly dreamed.”
    A bitter tear slid down her cheek. “He came to take you away from me.”
    Her voice rose, raw and filled with pain. “He wasn’t the man I had met in the Philippines. That man was long gone. This man… he was cold, ruthless. Gone were the carefree tourist outfits, replaced by stiff suits and ties. His hair, once tousled by the sea breeze, was slicked back with thick gel. He looked like the devil himself.”
    I could hear her breath hitch as she fought through the memory.
    “He made me an offer.”
    Her voice quivered. “He told me to give him my children. That if I handed you over, all of you, I would never have to worry about money again. In exchange, I was to disappear. Forget I ever knew him. Forget I ever had his children.”
    She let out a broken sob.