My Baby Became Hers

Bayport called me the luckiest woman alive. They said I was a substitute who had worked my way into his bed and his home. Even after I lost our son, Nicholas kept me in luxury, holding me in the palm of his hand. For five years, I searched for my boy like a woman possessed, traveling through ninety-nine cities. I cut myself ninety-nine times when the despair grew too heavy to bear. Nicholas never blamed me. He showered me with gentle care, nursing me through every breakdown.

Waking from my hundredth episode of self-harm, I saw his bloodshot, exhausted eyes and felt a wave of crushing guilt. I decided it was time to let go of my obsession and start over. I put on the long dress he had gifted me five years ago and walked to his study, ready to thank him. But through the cracked door, I heard him laughing softly into his phone.

"Don't worry, Vivienne. The boy has been with you for five years. He only knows you as his mother."

"Emma was only a substitute so I could marry you. Since your body was damaged and you couldn't conceive, it was fair she bore a child to pay her debt."

"Once she moves past this, we can have plenty of other children."

I stood frozen in the corridor, my blood turning to ice. Two thousand nights of self-loathing and torment, his performative devotion, all a twisted lie to make his muse smile. Nicholas, being the mother of your child is too exhausting. I am done.

"Who is out there?"

The study door was flung open.

He was holding his phone, the tender smile on his lips freezing the moment he saw my pale face.

"Emma? Why are you barefoot?"

He took a step forward, reaching out to scoop me up out of habit.

I recoiled, jerking backward.

Nicholas's hands hung uselessly in the air.

"You heard all of that?" He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, since you know, there is no point in hiding it anymore."

"Nicholas, is it true? Everything you just said?" My voice shook violently, my nails biting so deep into my palms that they nearly broke the skin.

"Emma, calm down." He stepped closer, towering over me. "Vivienne destroyed her uterus saving my life years ago. She can never be a mother. You are her sister. Helping her fulfill that dream was the least you could do."

"Fulfill her dream?" I stared at him, my eyes wide with sheer disbelief. "I carried him for nine months! He is my flesh and blood!"

"But you only got to marry into the family because of Vivienne." His voice was flat, each word a cold blade plunging straight into my chest.

Everyone in Bayport knew Nicholas would never tolerate anyone implying his wife was just a placeholder. Yet here he was, saying those very words himself.

"All these years, I have tolerated your tantrums, stayed by your side through everything. Haven't I been good enough to you?"

I stared into his dark eyes, finding them utterly unrecognizable.

Five years ago, we had a massive fight over a lipstick stain on his collar. In a fit of rage, I walked out with our one-year-old son. I bent down for just a second to tie my shoe, and when I looked up, he was gone.

For thousands of nights, I knelt in chapels until my knees bled, begging God to return my boy. Every time I sliced my wrists in sheer hopelessness, he would sit by my hospital bed with red, tearful eyes, begging me to live.

He told me: "Emma, even without the baby, you still have me."

It was all a lie. Even that argument had been a meticulously orchestrated trap.

"What am I to you, Nicholas? A breeding machine?" I screamed, tears streaming down my face. "I am going to find my son! I am bringing him home!"

I spun around to run downstairs, but a hand clamped onto my wrist. He jerked me back, trapping me against his chest.

"Emma, that is enough!" He hissed, his voice dripping with irritation. "Frankie has lived with Vivienne for five years. He thinks she is his mother. If you go barging in now, you will only terrify him."

"Let me go! You liar!" I thrashed wildly, sinking my teeth deep into his shoulder. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, but he did not even flinch.

"Guard," he called out coldly. "My wife is having another episode. Take her back to her room."

"And make sure she does not go anywhere near Vivienne."

He released me, letting the guards haul me away. "Get some rest, Emma. We will talk when you have cleared your head."

He walked back into his study without a backward glance.

They threw me into the bedroom and locked the door. I collapsed onto the floor, looking around. The vanity held a diamond necklace he had bought at an auction just to make me smile. The closet was packed with limited-edition designer dresses he had sourced from around the globe.

I scrambled to the closet and pulled out a storage bin. Inside were Frankie's baby clothes. A faded bib sat right on top. For five years, I had slept clutching it to my chest.

Tears dripped onto the worn fabric.

The door opened, and Maria, the housekeeper, walked in with a warm bowl of soup. "Ma'am, please eat something."

I looked up at her like she was my last lifeline. "Maria, please help me. Let me borrow your phone. I need to call the police..."

She sighed, shaking her head. "Ma'am, stop making a scene."

I froze, a chill creeping into my bones. "You... you knew too?"

She continued folding clothes. "Miss Vivienne is gentle and kind. The young master is living a blessed life with her. If you really love him, you will let this go."

She walked out, locking the door behind her.

I sat on the floor, numb. It turned out I was living in a real-life Truman Show, where everyone was in on the joke. My agony was nothing but cheap entertainment to them.

I wiped my tears, stood up, and banged on the door. "Nicholas won't let me look for my son," I shouted to the guard outside. "But he never said I couldn't visit my mother."

Ten minutes later, the door opened. Nicholas looked at the bib clutched in my hand, a flicker of guilt crossing his eyes.

"Going to see your mother might do you some good, Emma," he said softly. "I will have some men drive you to keep you safe."

Safe? He meant watched.

The rain tapped against the car window. My reflection looked hollow, eyes dead.

My mind drifted back ten years. Vivienne and Nicholas were the golden couple of their university. But Vivienne broke his heart to pursue her dreams abroad. Nicholas fell gravely ill. When he finally recovered, he saw me, a girl who looked seventy percent like his lost love.

He offered to make me his substitute.

My pride screamed at me to refuse, but my mother begged me. "Emma, you have loved Nicholas for years. Now is your chance. Your father's business needs his backing. Do it for the family."

So, I agreed.

During those first few years, Nicholas treated me beautifully. He made me believe I had actually crawled into his heart, that I wasn't just a shadow.

The night before our wedding, my mother wept. Nicholas knelt before her, promising, "I swear, I will never let Emma suffer a single day of unhappiness."

Even when Vivienne suddenly returned to the country on our wedding day, he did not leave me. He held my hand firmly and walked me down the aisle.

Back then, I thought I was the happiest woman on earth.

When the baby went missing, he never blamed me. His bloodshot eyes and the scratches on his hands from my panic attacks became the chains of my guilt.

But it was all a trap. He had set the stage just to rob me of my child.

"We are here, ma'am," the driver's voice shattered my thoughts.

I pushed the door open, letting the rain soak my dress as I ran inside the house.

My mother frowned when she saw me drenched. "Emma? What on earth happened to you?"

I broke down, throwing myself into her arms. "Mom... Frankie isn't dead. Nicholas gave him to Vivienne! Please, you have to help me get him back!"

My mother's body went rigid. Slowly, she pushed me away.

"Emma, sit down first," she said, her voice quiet. "The boy is safe and sound. Isn't that the best possible outcome?"

A loud buzzing filled my ears. "Mom? What are you saying?"

She sighed, looking at me with forced pity. "Vivienne was alone abroad for so many years, and her health is fragile. Having a child keeps her company. Besides, she is your sister. It is only right the boy calls her mother. Would you rather he be lost in the streets, dead or alive?"

Each word felt like a physical blow.

"You knew," I whispered, my voice trembling.

She avoided my eyes, picking up a towel to dry my hair. "I had no choice, Emma. Nicholas promised that if I kept this from you, he would stop your father from divorcing me. You are still the wealthy Mrs. Huo. Vivienne is your sister. Why must you fight her over this?"

I bit my lip so hard I tasted copper.

Vivienne was my father's daughter born out of wedlock. Years ago, my mother hated her and her mother with a passion. Yet now, she was calling her my sister.

I stood up slowly. "Frankie is my life."

She sighed and walked into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a mug of warm milk. "Drink this and calm down, Emma. Nicholas hid it because he cares about your feelings. If you really can't accept it, I will help you."

Believing her, I swallowed the milk. But within minutes, my eyelids grew incredibly heavy.

My mother guided me toward the guest bed. "Just sleep, sweetie. Everything will be fine when you wake up."

She had drugged me. My own mother had poisoned me just to protect Vivienne's stolen happiness.

Despair washed over me. I couldn't sleep. If I fell asleep now, I would wake up back in Nicholas's golden cage.

I pulled off the jade bracelet Nicholas had given me for our first anniversary. I smashed it against the nightstand, picked up a jagged shard, and sliced it deep into my arm.

The sharp, burning pain jolted my mind awake. Bleeding, I climbed out of the low window into the rainy night.

I knew where Nicholas kept his other estate. He often claimed he was working late there. Now I realized he was just keeping his two families perfectly balanced.

I took a cab, stumbling through the rain toward the gates of the suburban villa.

Just as I reached the corner, a luxury SUV pulled up.

Vivienne stepped out. Then, a little boy hopped out after her.

My son.

Even after five years, I knew him instantly.

He was holding a colorful card, presenting it to Vivienne like a trophy. "Mommy! Look what I made in school for Mother's Day! The teacher said we should give the prettiest flowers to the person we love most. I love you the most, Mommy!"

His bright smile pierced my chest.

"Frankie..."

Tears blinded me as I rushed forward. "I'm your mommy! I'm your real mommy!"

I reached out to hold him, even if just for a second.

"Stop her!" Vivienne shrieked.

Two bodyguards shoved me backward. I fell hard onto the wet asphalt, scraping my palms.

"Let me go! Let me see my son!" I sobbed, staring at the boy hiding behind Vivienne. "Frankie, look at me... I am your mother..."

Frankie peeked out. Suddenly, he broke away from Vivienne and ran toward me.

A spark of hope flared in my chest. I pushed myself up, opening my arms. "Frankie, come to mommy..."

But he did not hug me.

Instead, he swung his heavy school backpack, slamming the metal buckle directly into my forehead.

A sharp pain exploded in my skull. Blood trickled into my eyes, painting my world red.

"You are the bad woman who abandoned me!" Frankie yelled, his face flushed with anger and hatred. "Mommy told me everything! You hated my crying and dumped me at the mall! Vivienne is my only mommy! Go away!"

A child's words, yet they tore my soul to shreds.

I had spent five years bleeding and weeping for him, only for him to believe I was a monster who threw him away.

I looked up at Vivienne. She stepped forward, taking Frankie's hand. "Be polite, Frankie. She did give birth to you, after all."

"I don't want her! She is crazy!" Frankie buried his face in her side.

I forced myself to stand. "What did you tell my son, Vivienne?"

She leaned close, whispering so only I could hear. "Just the truth, little sister. You were nothing but a surrogate. Nicholas only married you because of your face. Now that you know, why don't you just disappear? Neither of them wants you."

The agony of five years morphing into absolute fury, I swung my hand and slapped her across the face.

She screamed and tumbled to the ground.

"Mommy!" Frankie cried, lunging at me like a feral animal. "You hurt my mommy! I hate you!"

"Emma! What do you think you're doing?"

Nicholas's voice roared through the rain. He rushed forward, shoving me aside with such force that I crashed against the concrete edge of the flowerbed.

He did not even look at me. "Vivienne, are you alright? Are you hurt?" He draped his coat over her shoulders.

"I'm fine... don't be mad at Emma. She just misses the baby..." Vivienne whimpered, looking utterly pathetic.

Nicholas turned his cold, furious gaze on me. "Emma, I have tolerated enough of your madness!"

Clutching my bruised ribs, I began to laugh. "Are you still playing pretend, Nicholas? You gave my child to her and taught him to hate me. You watched me tear the world apart looking for him for five years. What are you made of?"

His face remained utterly emotionless. "Your depression has worsened. You are having severe hallucinations and violent episodes. Tomorrow morning, my men will take you to a private sanitarium in the mountains."

"No! I'm not crazy!" I struggled to stand.

Suddenly, Vivienne screamed. "Frankie! No!"

Frankie had run toward the unfenced riverbank. He slipped on the wet grass, losing his balance and tumbling into the rushing water.

"Help! Mommy, help me!"

"Frankie!"

Without a second thought, I dived into the freezing river. I swam frantically toward his thrashing form.

Then, another splash. Vivienne had somehow fallen in too, flailing close to the shore. "Nicholas... save me..."

Nicholas jumped in.

But he did not swim toward his son or his wife. He swam straight toward Vivienne.

I used the very last of my strength to push Frankie to the muddy bank, where a guard pulled him up.

Frankie looked back at me, his eyes filled with malicious spite. He kicked his foot out, striking me squarely in the chest, pushing me back into the deep current.

I had no strength left to fight.

The freezing water rushed into my nose and throat. As I sank, I could hear Nicholas frantically comforting Vivienne.

I closed my eyes, letting the darkness pull me down.

Nicholas, if there is a next life, I hope I never lay eyes on you.