A Life Left Behind

The wails of a child tore me from sleep.

"Look at our son, Lily. Isn't he just precious?"

Derick smilingly cradled a baby in his arms, standing at the foot of my hospital bed.

Blinking away confusion, I took in Derick's youthful features and realized: I had been given a second chance at life.

I had come back to the very day they had taken my child from me.

The thought fueled a surge of adrenaline that pushed the pain aside. I reached out, desperate to take the baby from Derick.

"Hand him over to me, now!"

"Okay, okay, easy there, dear." With a smile still playing on his lips, Derick passed the baby into my arms.

I wasted no time peeling back the swaddle to inspect his thigh. There it was, a faint birthmark.

This child was not mine.

He was the secret offspring of Derick and Jasmine!

Rage bubbled up inside me.

Derick, oblivious, continued his charade. "Look at those long legs; he's got that from you! He's going to be a model, and not just that, a formidable Mafia boss one day!"

I scoffed at the irony.

I had poured my soul into raising him, grooming him.

To ascend as the leader of the country's most feared Mafia.

Still, for 40 years, he, Derick, and Jasmine had played me for a fool.

When I uncovered their lies, they had the audacity to threaten me, to demand my grace over their illicit romance.

While my true heir, my flesh and blood, had perished in the cold, uncared for, all because of a simple cold.

The thought alone made me want to rip them apart!

Nevertheless, my priority was clear: I had to find my real son.

Taking a deep breath to quell the storm inside, I turned to Derick. "What about Jasmine? She was due as well, wasn't she? Did she have a boy or a girl?"

A shadow of guilt flickered across Derick's face. "She's had a son, too.

"Her husband's gone, and she can't swing the cost of a private room. Look after the kid for a bit, I'm going to check on her in the regular ward."

I did not say a word against it.

With that, Derick was up and out the door like a shot.

I let out an icy laugh. The moment he was gone, I waved over one of my guys I trusted and slipped a nurse some cash.

Minutes later, I was cradling the baby, standing in Jasmine's room.

She and Derick had been summoned away by the nurse.

There was my boy, just left on the bed, nothing on him but a scratchy washcloth.

I did not think twice. I switched the babies back without missing a beat.

As I held the tiny bundle and the baby snuggled tight against me, tears came unbidden.

He seemed to connect with me right away, nestling into the warmth of my chest.

Yes. Even on our first meeting, I knew in my gut that he was my flesh and blood!

In my previous life, Derick had his fling with his so-called 'sister' Jasmine before he ever knew me.

All the while, unaware of the truth, I was running the mafia business and raising their child myself.

They were busy dreaming about their love child and blowing through the cash I made, which ended up costing my son his life.

I poured my soul into making their kid my successor, and they just sat back and enjoyed the spoils.

My boy and I? We were just pawns in their perfect life!

Fate handed me a do-over, and this time, Derrick and Jasmine would be dealt with a well-deserved retribution!