Chapter 5: The Witness

Lin sat beside me. Handcuffed to the bench. Not fighting it.

"They think I jumped," she said.

"You did jump."

"I was caught." She smiled. The old smile. The one that meant she was planning. "Different thing."

A door opened. Down the hall. White coat. Gray hair.

Not our father. Too young. But same eyes.

"Dr. Chen," he said to the police. "Principal Zhou's physician. She's awake. Asking for her daughter."

Lin stiffened.

"Which one?" I asked.

He looked at me. Really looked. "She said the name. Yan."

---

The room smelled like sleep. Like trapped breath.

Principal Zhou lay flat. Tubes everywhere. But her eyes moved. Tracking me.

"She can't speak," Dr. Chen said. "Stroke. Two years ago. But she can blink. Once for yes. Twice for no."

I sat. Close enough to smell her. Old flowers. Medicine.

Lin stood by the door. Guards outside. But she watched. Always watching.

"Did you steal me?" I asked. "From the hospital. From my real mother."

Blink.

Once.

Yes.

Lin made a sound. Small. Hurt.

"Why?"

No blink. She couldn't answer why.

"Was it punishment? For Lin? For being born?"

Once.

Yes.

I looked at Lin. She looked away.

"Am I your daughter?" I asked. "Biologically?"

Twice.

No.

"Then whose?"

Principal Zhou's eyes moved. Not to me. To Lin.

Lin stepped forward. "Don't."

"Whose?" I asked again.

Principal Zhou blinked.

Three times.

Not yes. Not no.

*Something else.*

"She's tired," Dr. Chen said. "We should—"

"Wait." I leaned closer. "Three blinks. Third option. Third person."

Lin's hand found my shoulder. "Stop. Please. Not here. Not with her."

"With who then? You? The woman who made me a murderer in my own head?"

Silence.

Then Principal Zhou moved.

One finger. Just one. Tapped the bed rail. Three times.

Same rhythm. Three beats.

Lin froze.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Nothing," Lin said. Fast. Too fast. "Old habit. She used to tap when she was angry. When she was—"

"Lyng," Principal Zhou mouthed.

No sound. But clear.

*Lying.*

Lin backed away. Hit the wall. "You can't speak. You can't move. You can't ruin this."

"Ruin what?"

But Lin was gone. Out the door. Guards shouting.

I stayed.

Looked at the woman who stole me. Who raised me as punishment. Who couldn't speak but still fought.

"Why three?" I asked her. "Three blinks. Three taps. Three what?"

She looked at the ceiling. Then back at me.

And smiled.

The same smile as Lin.

---

I found Lin in the stairwell. Sitting. Cuffs off. She'd talked her way free. Or something.

"She's not my mother either," I said. "Is she?"

Lin didn't answer.

"Three blinks. Three taps. Three babies. But not triplets." I sat beside her. "What did she do?"

Lin's voice came small. Young. The voice I remembered from childhood. Before the manipulation. Before the games.

"She wanted a perfect child. First baby—me—had the mark. The lip. Imperfect."

She touched her own scar.

"Second baby—you—stolen. Tested. Wrong blood type. Not compatible."

Compatible. For what?

"Third baby," Lin continued. "Never born. She found out too late. The father was—" She stopped. Laughed. Bitter. "Our father. The surgeon. The one who just tried to save me with an empty gun."

I waited.

"She wanted to transplant," Lin said. "My face. Your face. Perfect pieces. But you were too old. Three months. Already formed. So she kept you. Broke you. Made you mine instead of hers."

"And the third?"

"Miscarriage. Stress. Or poison. Depends who you ask." Lin looked at me. "She killed her own child trying to make perfect ones. Then she stole you to punish me for surviving. Then I stole you back. Made you think you killed her. Made you need me."

She reached for my hand. I let her.

"Who am I?" I asked.

"Yan." She squeezed. Hard. "You're Yan. The girl who caught me when I jumped. The only one who ever did."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I have."

The stairwell door opened.

Wang Tao. Face bandaged now. Professional. Clean.

"Police are done," he said. "For now. But there's a condition." He looked at me. "She stays with you. Supervised release. Your responsibility."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only one she won't manipulate." He smiled. The first real smile I'd seen. "You already know all her tricks. You invented some of them."

He turned to leave.

"Wang Tao."

He stopped.

"Why did you come back? Really?"

He didn't turn. "She killed my brother. The real Wang Tao. The one in the car. I was supposed to be driving. He took my shift." Silence. "I climbed out of that grave for him. Not for answers. For debt."

Then he was gone.

Lin stood. Offered her hand. Cuffed again, but loose. Trust, or performance.

"Home?" she asked.

"Whose home?"

"Ours. The apartment. They can't keep me from my own property." She smiled. The new smile. Smaller. Uncertain. "Unless you're afraid. Of me. Of what I'll do."

I took her hand.

"Afraid?" I said. "You made me believe I killed someone. You made me hate myself for ten years. I'm not afraid of you, Lin." I pulled her close. Whispered in her ear. "I'm afraid of who I am when I'm with you."

We walked down the stairs.

Together.

The only way to find out which of us was real.