Chapter 56 The Switch

Chapter 56 The Switch
(Sarah POV)
The baby in my arms wouldn't stop crying. I sat in the cheap motel room three hours outside the city, staring down at the red, scrunched face of Lily's daughter. My daughter now. Mine and Alex's.
"Shhh," I cooed, rocking her awkwardly. "Mama's here. Everything's okay."
But she kept crying. That thin, desperate newborn wail that set my teeth on edge.
I'd never been good with babies. Even my own pregnancy had felt more like a means to an end than something joyful. The baby inside me was just part of the plan, proof of my relationship with Alex, a reason for judges to show mercy, a tool to manipulate.
But this baby, Lily's baby was different. This baby was revenge. This baby was proof that I'd won.
"She needs to eat," Marcus said from the bed, where he sat counting the money we'd stolen from the jewelry store. "Did you bring formula?"
"Of course I brought formula." I snapped. "I'm not an idiot."
But as I fumbled with the bottle, trying to get the baby to latch onto the nipple, I felt a creeping sense of doubt. What did I know about taking care of an infant? I'd planned to have help, nannies, staff, Alex handling the difficult parts.
The baby finally took the bottle and the crying stopped. Blessed silence.
I looked down at her tiny face. She had Lily's nose. Lily's chin. But the eyes, when they fluttered open for a brief moment, those were Alex's eyes. Dark, almost black.
Perfect. She was perfect.
"The news is going crazy," Marcus said, flipping through channels on the TV. "They found the warehouse. They're saying Lily Morrison gave birth and the baby was stillborn."
I smiled. That part had been genius.
While Viktor's men held Lily, while she screamed through labor, I'd been having my own contractions. My baby had come early too early. Born silent and blue, never taking a breath.
At first, I was devastated. My baby, my connection to Alex, is gone.
But then I realised, it was perfect. Better than perfect. I could tell everyone that Lily's baby died. I could take Lily's healthy daughter and claim she was mine. No one would question it. I'd been visibly pregnant. I'd gone into labor the same day.
The switch would be flawless.
"What did you do with..." Marcus trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.
"My baby?" I said coldly. "I left her in the warehouse. In that closet. Let them find her and think she was Lily's. Let Lily wake up and believe her daughter is dead."
Marcus looked sick. "Sarah, that's..."
"That's what?" I challenged. "Cruel? Evil? She took everything from me, Marcus. She destroyed my life, put the father of my child in prison, turned the world against me. She deserves to suffer."
"But to let her think her baby died—"
"It's poetic justice." I adjusted the baby in my arms, careful not to wake her now that she'd finally fallen asleep. "Lily wanted to give this baby up for adoption anyway. She told Dr. Chen. So really, I'm just taking a baby that wasn't wanted and giving her a home where she'll be loved."
"Will she? Be loved?"
I looked down at the sleeping infant. Honestly? I didn't know. I felt nothing for her right now, no maternal bond, no overwhelming love. She was a tool. A weapon against Lily. A prize I'd won.
But maybe that would change. Maybe once we were settled, once Alex was released on appeal, once we were a family—maybe then I'd feel something.
"Of course she'll be loved," I lied. "She'll have everything she needs."
I stood and carried the baby to the small bassinet I'd bought at a Walmart three towns over. I paid cash, wore a disguise, and was careful. No one could trace me.
My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number: Package delivered. Evidence placed. They believe the switch. -V
Viktor. Confirming that he'd positioned my stillborn baby to look like Lily's. That the police and FBI believed Lily had given birth to a dead child.
I texted back: Payment on its way.
Another lie. I had no money left. But Viktor didn't know that. By the time he realized I wasn't paying, I'd be long gone.
"What now?" Marcus asked. "We can't stay here forever."
"We don't need to stay forever. Just long enough for things to calm down. Then we head to Mexico, get new identities, and start over."
"And Alex?"
"Alex will get out on appeal. His lawyers are the best money can buy, my money, technically, from the jewelry store jobs. They'll find some technicality, some procedural error. He'll be free in a year, maybe two. And when he is, we'll bring him to Mexico and be a family."
Marcus didn't look convinced. "You really think he's getting out? He's charged with murder, Sarah. Multiple murders."
"They have to prove it. And without Lily's testimony, which she won't be able to give once she's destroyed by grief the case falls apart."
It was all working perfectly. Lily would be so devastated by her daughter's death that she'd be useless as a witness. The trial would collapse. Alex would be freed. And we'd all live happily ever after. Well, except Lily. Lily would live in hell. Exactly as she deserved.
I pulled out my laptop and checked the news sites. The story was everywhere:
"Lily Morrison Gives Birth to Stillborn Baby After Dramatic Warehouse Rescue"
"Tragedy for Abuse Victim: Baby Dies During Traumatic Delivery"
"Tony Stark Devastated as Woman He Tried to Save Loses Child"
That last headline made me smile. Tony Stark, the great hero, had failed. He'd arrived too late. Lily's baby was "dead" and there was nothing he could do about it.
I clicked on a video. News footage of the warehouse. Ambulances, police cars, FBI vehicles everywhere. And there, Tony Stark, his face pale, his hands shaking, covered in blood.
Lily's blood.
"They took two people to the County General," the reporter was saying. "Lily Morrison, in critical condition from blood loss and trauma, and an unidentified infant found abandoned in the warehouse. The infant is reported to be in stable condition, but authorities are uncertain of its identity or relation to the case."
My baby. They'd found my baby.
For a moment—just a moment—I felt something twist in my chest. That was my daughter. My flesh and blood. Dead and found in a warehouse like a piece of trash.
But then I looked at the living baby sleeping in the bassinet. This was my daughter now. This was what mattered.
"Are you okay?" Marcus asked, watching my face.
"Fine." I closed the laptop. "Everything is fine."
But as the hours passed, as I fed and changed and cared for this stolen baby, doubt crept in. She looked at me with those dark eyes, when she was awake and I saw nothing familiar. No recognition. No bond. She wasn't mine. Not really. She was Lily's.
And somewhere deep down, in a part of myself I tried to ignore, I knew this was wrong.
But I'd come too far to stop now. I'd stolen a baby. Left my own dead child behind. Orchestrated an elaborate deception. There was no going back.
My phone rang. Unknown number.
I answered cautiously. "Yes?"
"Sarah Morrison?" A woman's voice, professional.
"Who's asking?"
"This is Agent Chen with the FBI. We'd like to talk to you about the warehouse incident. We have reason to believe you were there."
My blood ran cold. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"We have surveillance footage from traffic cameras. We tracked your vehicle leaving the warehouse approximately thirty minutes before our arrival. We know you were there, Ms. Morrison. We know you took something that doesn't belong to you."
I hung up and immediately pulled the battery out of the phone.
"What's wrong?" Marcus jumped up.
"FBI. They're tracking us." I started throwing things into bags. "We need to move. Now."
"But the baby.."
"Bring her. We're leaving."
I scooped up the infant, who immediately started crying again. Marcus grabbed our bags and we fled the motel room, leaving half our supplies behind.
We drove for three hours, constantly checking the mirrors for police cars. The baby screamed the entire time, her cries drilling into my skull.
"She needs to be changed," Marcus said.
"I can't change her while I'm driving!"
"Pull over then."
"We can't stop. They're looking for us."
The baby's screams intensified. Marcus looked like he was about to lose his mind.
"This was a mistake," he said suddenly. "Sarah, this whole thing is a mistake. We need to give her back."
"Are you insane? We can't give her back now. We'd go to prison for kidnapping."
"We're going to prison anyway! They have us on surveillance. They know we were at the warehouse. It's over, Sarah. It's all over."
"Shut up. Let me think."
But he was right. I could feel it. The walls are closing in. The plan falling apart.
I'd been so focused on hurting Lily that I hadn't thought through the aftermath. Hadn't realized that stealing a baby would make me one of the most wanted criminals in the country.
I pulled off at a rest stop, parking in a dark corner. Marcus changed the baby while I checked my laptop for news.
It was everywhere. My face plastered across every major news site. "Sarah Morrison, Wanted for Kidnapping and Murder."
They knew. They knew everything.
Somehow, despite all my planning, they'd figured it out.
I read further. Traffic camera footage had captured my car. Facial recognition had identified me. And Tony Stark, Tony fucking Stark had personally led the FBI investigation, using his company's technology to track my movements. He'd been one step behind me this whole time. And now he was closing in.
"We're not going to make it to Mexico," Marcus said quietly, rocking the baby. "Are we?"
"No." The word tasted like defeat. "No, we're not."
"So what do we do?"
I looked at the baby. At Lily's stolen daughter. At my last piece of leverage.
"We use her. As a bargaining chip. Tell the FBI we'll trade her for immunity, for a deal."
"You think that'll work?"
"It has to. That's all we have left."
But even as I said it, I knew it wouldn't work. There was no deal good enough for kidnapping an infant. No immunity for what I'd done.
I was going to prison for the rest of my life.
And Lily, broken, devastated, grieving Lily would get her daughter back and live happily ever after.
I'd lost. After everything, I'd lost.

LILY POV - Hospital Room
I woke to the sound of machines beeping. Hospital smell. White walls. For a moment, I didn't remember. I didn't know why I was here.
Then it all came rushing back. The warehouse. The labor. Sarah taking my baby.
"My baby," I whispered. "Where's my baby?"
A nurse appeared, her face full of pity. "Ms. Morrison, I'll get the doctor."
"No. Tell me now. Where is my daughter?"
The nurse's eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry. Your baby... she didn't make it. She was stillborn."
The words didn't make sense. Stillborn. But I heard her cry. I'd seen her, tiny and alive.
"No. No, that's wrong. She was alive. She cried. I heard her cry."
"Sometimes the brain creates memories during trauma. The doctor will explain.."
"I heard my baby cry!" I was screaming now, trying to sit up, but my body was too weak. "She was alive! Sarah took her! Sarah took my baby!"
The nurse pressed the call button. "I need help in here!"
More people rushed in. Hands holding me down. A syringe piercing my arm.
"No," I sobbed. "My baby. Please. My baby..."
The drugs took effect quickly. But before the darkness claimed me, I heard someone, Dr. Chen, maybe, say gently, "The baby they found was stillborn, Lily. I'm so sorry. Your daughter is gone."
Gone.
Dead.
My baby was dead.The darkness swallowed me, and for a moment, I welcomed it.But as consciousness faded, a single thought crystallized with perfect, terrible clarity.
I didn't want to live in a world where my daughter was dead.I didn't want to live at all. And the moment I was alone, the moment they stopped watching me so carefully, I would make sure I didn't have to..