Chapter 1

My thoughts took me back to 15 years ago.

My three-year-old daughter, Winnie Gulliver, was abducted right in front of my husband, Jasper Gulliver's eyes.

Jasper had sunk down to his knees in front of me. Tears streamed down his face as he slapped himself over and over again.

"I'm sorry, Natasha. I had no idea things would end up this way. I just stepped away for a brief moment to smoke. When I came back, Winnie was… I've already filed a missing persons report and informed the police about her abduction. We'll definitely get her back!

"Why don't you take out your frustrations on me, honey? I've learned my lesson. I really have!"

I had leaned against the wall at the time, watching Jasper slap himself with hollow eyes.

At the end of the day, my heart had softened at his display of remorse.

I couldn't deny that Jasper had treated me extremely well in the past few years. Although he was always busy running his business, he never once neglected my needs.

Whenever I had a craving, he would travel across the city just to purchase the food for me. Whenever I missed him, he would adjourn whatever meeting he was in immediately just to return home to hold me.

It was why I decided to give him another chance for the mistake he made. However, I had no idea that I had to wait three years to see Winnie again.

…

Winnie returned home three years later.

I couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss when I laid eyes on her again for the first time in three years. Although I suffered from face blindness and couldn't make out her features, my sixth sense was telling me that something was wrong.

"Please look into this again, Jasper," I pleaded desperately. "Could there have been a mistake? Winnie isn't like this. I would be able to recognize her!"

Jasper simply shot a helpless look at me as he pressed the girl's hand into my palm, saying, "Everyone knows that you have face blindness, Nat. You can't make out Winnie's face, so it makes sense that you're not able to immediately recognize her.

"Besides, I picked up Winnie from the police station. They just raided a transnational human trafficking ring. Luckily for us, they managed to save Winnie from their clutches before anything happened to her.

"You also have to understand that it's normal for Winnie's personality to change after experiencing something so terrible. We should thank our stars that she was able to safely return to our sides."

I had more to say, but Jasper interrupted me by pulling out a medical report.

"You can take a look at this if you don't believe me. I brought Winnie to the hospital to get a DNA test. The results should be conclusive."

I accepted Jasper's words after I looked through the report.

…

Winnie treated me as if I were a stranger at first. She kept hiding from me and refused to call me "Mommy".

I assumed that her avoidance stemmed from the fact that she was still in shock after all the hardships she suffered in the past three years. I spent a lot of time and effort coaxing her, staunchly staying by her side as she grew up. I also spent all the money that Jasper gave me to spoil her rotten.

However, the article that I was looking at was claiming that the daughter I had doted on wasn't actually Winnie.

Could it just be a coincidence?

I suddenly recalled something. I frantically dashed to my bedside cabinet and retrieved the medical report that I had stored away for a long time.

I searched for the contact information and dialed the hospital's number using my old and battered phone.

"Hello, is it possible for you to check the results of a DNA test that was conducted at your hospital more than a decade ago?"

Half an hour later, the nurse called me back. Although her tone was friendly and polite, every word that she said was like a heavy blow to my heart, making it difficult for me to even breathe.

"Hello, ma'am. We've searched through the system for the results that you're looking for. I regret to inform you that your DNA test is fake. We don't have any records of conducting a DNA test for Ms. Winnie Gulliver."