He Chose His First Love, I Married His Twin and Had a Son

After Echos husband died, she came crawling back to Thomas.

Tobys fever won't go down, she sobbed, clutching at his sleeve. He keeps crying out for his daddy. Can you please just pretend to be his father for a few more days? You and Travis are identical twins. No one else can do this!

Thomas instinctively looked at me, his eyes searching mine for a reaction.

I merely gave him a cool, detached look. "Go," I said, my voice empty of emotion. "Don't let the boy's fever get any worse."

He froze for a fraction of a second, surprised by my indifference, before grabbing his coat and rushing out the door.

He had no idea.

He was actually supposed to become a real father.

But only days ago, Echos son had pushed me into the swimming pool.

Thomas hadn't even glanced at my medical report. He had been too busy defending the boy, his voice dripping with excuses. "Toby thought I was Travis. He actually believed you were the home-wrecker trying to tear his mommy and daddy apart."

So he never found out.

I had miscarried.

The moment the words left Echos mouth, Thomass tone turned freezing cold.

"If he has a fever, why didn't you take him straight to the emergency room?"

Echo froze at our front door. Loose strands of hair clung messily to her damp cheeks, giving her a look of fragile, pathetic helplessness.

"I called a private doctor," she whimpered, "but Toby won't let anyone near him. He just cries for his daddy. Ever since Travis died in that car crash, youve been the one playing his father. Now that youre not there, hes miserable."

She tapped her phone screen, bringing up a video.

A little boy, flushed and semi-conscious with fever, was sobbing weakly.

"Daddy, I want my daddy..."

With every whimpering cry from the screen, Thomass brow furrowed deeper.

Echo tugged at the corner of his jacket, her eyes red and pleading. "I know youre married now, but please, just this once, help me again. You and Travis are identical twins. There is literally no one else who can play the part!"

Thomas glanced at his watch and instinctively turned to me.

"Laurie, I..."

"Im tired. Im going to bed," I interrupted, my voice unnaturally calm. "They need you right now. Go on, don't delay and make the boy's illness worse."

For a rare moment, Thomass face went entirely blank. He stared at me, his gaze heavy with an unreadable mix of emotions.

After a long silence, he offered a quiet, raspy explanation. "Ive come to see Toby as practically my own son. I can't just ignore him."

He wrapped his arms around me in a brief, soothing embrace. "Get some rest, Laurie. Ill be back soon."

With that, he grabbed his coat and hurried out into the night with Echo.

Once the door clicked shut, I picked up the envelope that had arrived earlier that evening. Inside was a draft of the divorce papers, sent by my lawyer friend.

I stared down at the crisp white sheets.

My hand slowly drifted to my flat stomach, and a bitter warmth flooded my eyes.

Thomas didn't know.

He had a child. A real one.

Except, before the baby could even see the light of day, it had been killed.

Killed by his deceased brothers son, the boy he loved like a son, in a tragic, deliberate accident.

Thomas didn't return that night.

I was used to it, so I fell asleep early.

When I woke up the next morning, my phone buzzed with a message from him.

Laurie, Tobys fever broke. Theres a family activity at his preschool this afternoon, and they require both parents to be there...

I didn't bother reading the rest of his lengthy paragraphs.

After showering, I walked downstairs to find a lavish, nutritious breakfast spread across the dining table.

Our housekeeper, Martha, beamed at me. "Mr. Thomas said youve been feeling weak ever since you fell into the pool. He personally instructed me to make sure you get enough nutrients to recover."

I gave a faint nod.

While sipping my warm porridge, I opened social media. Echos feed had just updated.

My sweet boy. Even though your biological daddy is gone, Mommy is still so blessed. You have another, even better, handsomer daddy to watch you grow up year after year.

The attached video showed a family basketball game at the preschool.

Thomas was wearing a jersey printed with "Tobys Dad."

Tall and athletic, he wove through the opposing players like a gust of wind.

And on his ring finger, he wore a wedding band that perfectly matched the one on Echos hand.

I stared at the screen, a dry, bitter laugh escaping my throat.

How incredibly thoughtful of him. He really covered every detail.

Thomas sank a gorgeous three-point shot to seal the win.

"Youre amazing, honey!" Echos voice squealed behind the camera, the lens shaking with her excitement as she waved at him.

Thomas bent down, scooped Toby up, and hoisted him high onto his shoulders, his eyes crinkling with genuine warmth. "Was Daddy good?"

The little boy clung to his neck, his eyes filled with pure adoration. "The best! You're the best, Daddy!"

For a split second, I was dragged back to a sunny afternoon during our senior year of college.

A handsome boy had leaped into the air, releasing a perfect shot right into the net.

Amidst the roaring cheers of the crowd, he had looked across the court, straight at me.

His lips had moved without making a sound, secretly mouthing the words: Was I good?

Staring at the glowing screen of my phone, the memory was so vivid that the word slipped past my lips in a fragile whisper.

"Yes, you were..."

Then a hot tear splashed onto my bare arm.

I snapped back to reality, quickly wiping the moisture from my eyes.

And then, I took another spoonful of the warm porridge, swallowing it along with my own salty tears.

Echos family was whole again.

Mine, however, had shattered into dust.

Thomas and Travis had been twins, but they were so distant they might as well have been strangers. Because of this, I knew next to nothing about my brother-in-law's private life.

The day of Traviss funeral was the very first time I met Echo and her five-year-old son, Toby.

The face etched onto the cold tombstone was identical to my husband's. My eyes burned with a sudden, overwhelming grief.

Amid the soft, mourning whimpers of the crowd, Toby suddenly broke free from Echos grip.

He toddled over on his little legs and wrapped his small arms tightly around Thomass leg, asking in a sweet, innocent voice, "Daddy, why is everyone crying?"

Thomas closed his eyes in agony, his hand trembling slightly as he stroked Tobys hair.

Thomas wasn't the boys father.

But everyone standing around the grave remained dead silent. No one had the heart to shatter the child's illusion.

Neither did I.

Looking at the tiny, fatherless boy, my heart swelled with nothing but pity.

I had no idea back then that a single moment of sympathy, a silent agreement to let this gentle lie play out, would completely ruin my life.

After the funeral, Thomas and Echo started seeing each other constantly.

Echo had lied to Toby, claiming his daddy was away on a long business trip overseas. But as the months dragged on, the lie became impossible to sustain.

So, she turned to Thomas.

She begged him to step in as Travis, to accompany the boy just for a little while.

"You and Travis are identical twins," she had pleaded. "No one else can be Tobys father."

I had a delicate constitution and had struggled to conceive. After three years of marriage, Thomas and I still didn't have any children.

Faced with his grieving nephew, Thomas had hesitated for only a brief moment before agreeing to this inappropriate arrangement.

From that point on, our quiet nights were shattered.

Every single night, Tobys voice calls would ring through the phone like clockwork.

His tiny, high-pitched voice would drift out of the receiver.

"Daddy, I miss you so much. I can't sleep."

"Daddy, when are you coming home?"

One night, after we were woken up yet again, Thomas rubbed his tired eyes and leaned over to kiss my forehead.

"Ill go quiet him down. Go back to sleep, honey."

As soon as the bedroom door clicked shut, I slipped out of bed. I stood by the door, pressing my ear against the wood, listening in silence.

"Yeah, Daddy loves you too," Thomas muttered.

"Daddy, you can't just say you love me! You have to say it to Mommy too!"

The hallway outside suddenly fell into a dead silence.

It was only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity.

Just when I thought the call was about to end, a deep, quiet voice drifted through the gap.

"Echo, I love you."

My mind went completely blank.

Those words felt like a physical blow, striking my chest and shattering my heart to pieces.

I didn't know when their call finally ended.

All I knew was the physical sensation of the mattress dipping behind me as a cold body slid back under the covers, wrapping his arms around me out of pure habit.

I pulled away, my voice trembling uncontrollably. "Do you love her?"

Thomas froze, then let out a helpless, soft chuckle. "I was just playing along for the kid. I couldn't blow my cover in the middle of a call." He pulled me closer. "Are you jealous?"

That night, he showered me with sweet, apologetic kisses, whispering promises in my ear.

"Laurie, I love you. Only you."

But the heavy, suffocating knot in my chest refused to dissolve.

In a moment of petty retaliation, I secretly put Thomass phone on silent.

That was the night Toby went missing.

Echo showed up at our house, furious. She slapped Thomas across the face with a resounding crack.

"Why didn't you answer his calls! He thought you abandoned him and ran out to look for you!"

Thomass eyes darkened as he cast a subtle, quiet glance in my direction. The red mark blooming on his cheek made his expression look incredibly cold.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "Ill find him."

Thankfully, Toby was found sleeping soundly on a park bench, completely unharmed.

When we got back to the house, Thomas shed his jacket and rubbed the bridge of his nose, exhaustion dripping from his voice.

"Did you touch my phone?"

I kept my composure and nodded.

He quietly lit a cigarette, his eyes cold and distant. "If something had actually happened to Toby tonight, could you have lived with the guilt?"

I threw the question right back at him. "And what about you? Are you really just trying to be a good uncle to your brother's son?"

Or was he planning to take care of the widow as well, keeping her warm in his bed?

The cigarette caught between Thomass fingers paused in mid-air.

"Im Tobys father right now, Laurie. Thats my responsibility."

My vision began to blur.

I forced a smile and let the tears roll down my cheeks. "Right. Of course."

A cold war settled over our marriage.

Thomas noticed my withdrawal and tried everything to win me back. Despite his packed schedule, he would find time to cook for me. Expensive jewelry began arriving at the house in various velvet boxes.

But the knot in my heart remained. The delicious meals tasted like ash, and the diamonds sat untouched in their boxes.

Thomas never truly understood the root of my silence. He continued to meet with Echo and Toby, treating their calls as perfectly normal obligations.

I simply chose to ignore it all.

One evening, Thomas was working late in his home office.

His assistant had sent over some urgent documents, asking me to get them signed.

When I pushed the door open, I found him on a video call with Toby.

I masked my expression, laid the folder on his desk, and turned to leave.

Suddenly, Tobys voice piped up from the phone.

"Daddy, the lady next to you looks really familiar. Who is she?"

Thomass brow twitched, and his fingers froze against the mahogany desk.

The room plunged into a suffocating silence.

I was the one who broke the tension.

"Im his assistant," I said, leaning slightly toward the screen with a polite smile. "I work for your daddy."

The moment the words left my mouth, the fountain pen in Thomass hand slipped, clattering loudly against the floor.

I bent down to pick it up, placing it neatly beside the document. My voice remained perfectly flat. "Please sign here, Mr. Thomas."

His face was a mask of cold fury, but he signed the papers with hasty, messy strokes.

I took the folder and turned to walk out.

Behind me, the sweet, childish voice continued over the speaker. "Daddy, your assistant is really pretty. But Mommy loves you so much, you can't cheat on her, okay? Otherwise, Toby won't love you anymore."

This time, I waited, but there was no response from the man behind me.

On Tobys birthday, Echo brought him to our house for the very first time.

Excited to see his "daddy," Toby clutched Thomass arm, his eyes wide and bright. "Daddy, I love this house! Can Mommy and I move in here to live with you?"

Echo stood nearby, her eyes gleaming with quiet anticipation, though she pretended to scold him. "Be good, Toby. Wed only get in the way of your daddys work."

Thomas instinctively looked at me.

I was sitting on the sofa, working on my laptop, and didn't even bother to look up.

After a long pause, his cold voice cut through the room. "No. I prefer peace and quiet."

Tobys face fell, and he let out a disappointed murmur. Then, his little finger pointed directly at me.

"But today is supposed to be Mommy and Daddy celebrating my birthday. Why is the assistant lady here? Shes an outsider!"

I froze for a second, then calmly closed my laptop and stood up. "Then I won't disrupt your family reunion."

As I reached the entryway, a hand clamped tightly around my wrist.

Thomas stared at me, his eyes dark and heavy, but his words were directed at the two people standing behind him.

"You both have crossed the line."

Echo turned pale. She quickly knelt down and scooped Toby into her arms. "Sweetie, the assistant lady has to work here. She can't leave."

Toby puckered his lips, huge tears rolling down his cheeks. "But Mommy, you said shes a home-wrecker who wants to tear us apart! I don't want her to steal my daddy away!"

He threw a tantrum, crying at the top of his lungs, and Echos eyes welled with tears too.

It was a pathetic, dramatic scene, making me look like the villain who was breaking up a happy home.

"Enough!"

Thomass voice was like ice as he glared at them. "Take him to the guest room. Don't come out until he stops crying."

Once the guest room door slammed shut, blocking out the noise, Thomas pulled me into a fierce embrace.

He held me so tightly it felt as though he wanted to fuse my bones with his.

"Laurie, I'm so sorry. I didn't handle this well," he whispered, his lips brushing against my temple in a desperate, pleading gesture. "Please, don't freeze me out anymore. If youre unhappy, Ill send them away tomorrow morning."

I let out a dry, humorless laugh.

"Make them leave now."

"What?"

"I want them out of my house right now."

Thomass arms loosened around me.

After a brief silence, he whispered, "Okay."

Echo bit her lip so hard it nearly bled, her red-rimmed eyes filled with humiliation as she hastily packed her bags.

Even though she tried to hide it, I saw what was inside her suitcase.

Tucked into the mesh compartment were several sets of revealing lace lingerie.

They had never intended to leave.

Did Thomas know?

Probably. But he had silently allowed it.

A wave of suffocation washed over me, and I walked out of the villa alone.

The cool night breeze swept across my face, but it couldn't clear the heavy knot in my chest.

"Hey, assistant lady, do you like my daddy?"

The childish voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I spun around.

Toby had slipped out of the house unnoticed and was standing a few feet away.

After a moment of silence, I answered quietly, "No, I don't."

"Liar!" Tobys bright, glassy eyes filled with angry tears.

I looked at him, noticing for the first time how much his eyes resembled Thomass, while his jawline and mouth were a carbon copy of Echos.

To any outsider, they looked like a perfect family.

"Daddy yelled at me because of you, and now hes kicking us out!" he sobbed. "Mommy said being a home-wrecker is bad. Give my daddy back to us!"

I had no desire to argue with a five-year-old, so I turned to walk back inside.

"You can't leave! You haven't promised me!"

Toby lunged forward, grabbing my sweater with surprising force.

Caught off balance, I stumbled backward, pulling him down with me into the empty swimming pool beside the path.

Because Toby was visiting, Thomas had ordered the pool to be mostly drained two days ago to prevent accidents.

Without the water to cushion the fall, I slammed hard against the cold, concrete floor of the pool. A blinding wave of pain turned my vision pitch black.

A pool of dark crimson began to bloom against the shallow puddle of water at the bottom.

Toby, coughing from a mouthful of water, began to scream in sheer terror. "Mommy! Daddy! Help me! I'm bleeding!"

"Toby!"

A loud splash echoed through the night.

Two figures leapt into the pool without a single second of hesitation.

I stared up at them, my eyes stinging. I couldn't tell if it was the chlorinated water or my own tears blinding me.

Toby was Echos son, so of course she jumped in for him.

But I was Thomass wife.

Why had he run to Toby first too?

When I finally opened my eyes, everything was a blinding, sterile white.

"You're awake," a nurse murmured, gently removing the IV drip from my arm. Her voice was full of pity. "I'm so sorry about the baby. Some things just aren't meant to be. Don't be too hard on yourself. Just focus on recovering. Youll have another chance in the future."

Baby?

The memory hit me like a physical blow. The blooming red water, the sharp, tearing pain in my abdomen.

A deafening ring filled my ears.

I clutched the cold metal of the bed rails, my voice shaking. "Where... where is my husband?"

The nurse blinked, a flicker of disgust passing over her face.

"No one has been here since that couple dropped you off last night," she sighed, shaking her head. "I don't understand people sometimes. You just suffered a miscarriage, yet your husband is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, that other couple's son only got a minor scratch on his arm, and theyve been hovering over him all night..."

The rest of her words faded into static.

Because the man she thought was part of "that other couple" was my husband.

Once the nurse left, I forced myself out of bed.

Clinging to the cold hospital walls, I dragged my weak, aching body down the corridor until I reached Tobys room.

Peering through the narrow glass pane of the door, I saw a scene so grotesque it felt like a sick joke.

Thomas was sitting by the bedside, holding a picture book, reading to Toby in a soft, soothing voice.

Echo rested her chin on her hand, a look of serene happiness on her face.

"Toby really looks like Travis," she murmured softly. Then, her eyes shifted to Thomas. "Thomas, you and Travis were identical. If you hadn't broken up with me back then, if you had been the one sleeping next to me that night... our child would have looked exactly like Toby."

The words hit me like a physical blow.

A wave of dizziness washed over me, and the world began to tilt.

They had broken up?

Thomas and Echo used to be together?

"Thomas," Echo whispered, her eyes suddenly glistening with tears. "Youve been mad at me for so long. Haven't you punished me enough?"