Chapter 1

I reached out and threw the curtains open before coldly looking at the old woman.

"Hi. Please keep your voice down. If you need to be loud, go outside."

The old woman felt embarrassed at my words. She grabbed the bag the pregnant woman had left behind and yelled at the baby, “Not only are you a mother-killing jinx, you’re an embarrassment, too! I’m selling you off once we get home!”

She barged past me while viciously pinching the baby in her arms.

I only caught a glimpse of the baby’s left ear. There was an oval-shaped birthmark.

The baby cried out in agony. “Ow! It hurts so much. Mommy, please save me!”

Unbothered, I looked away and rocked my baby daughter gently in my arms.

“Rosa, what happened? How did you end up in labor while I'm on a work trip?”

My husband, Nolan Grey, entered the ward while panting. He ran directly into the old woman carrying the baby.

“Watch where you’re going! You hurt my elbow. I demand compensation.”

The child’s voice in my head turned louder and shriller. It sounded close to tears, yet joyful.

“Daddy! It’s Daddy! Daddy, it’s me, Alex!”

Nolan looked around in search of the source of the voice. His gaze was one of confusion.

“Look down, Daddy! I’m the baby that old woman is carrying!”

Nolan looked at the baby and was taken aback. He hurriedly said apologetically to the old woman, “I’ll take you for a check-up. Please wait for me outside.”

Nolan strode over to my bedside and said agitatedly, “Rosa, did you hear that? The child that the old woman was holding said he’s our Alex!”

I frowned and leaned forward to sniff at Nolan. Then, I said hesitantly, “It doesn’t smell like you’ve been drinking.”

Nolan’s shoulders fell in dejection.

“I’m serious. Didn’t you see that? The kid had a birthmark just like Alex’s!”

I was unmoved as I replied, “That doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a coincidence.”

He looked up at me and asked, puzzled, “Did you really not hear that?”

“What did the kid say?”

Nolan’s eyes shone as he clutched my hand. “He said he’s Alex reincarnated! He’s our Alex, but reincarnated as the baby from the next bed because he was a step too late! Goodness! I can’t believe there’s actually such a thing in this world. Rosa, let’s take him home!”

Nolan’s face beamed with excitement.

In sharp contrast, my expression got even colder.

“Get it together. Alex died in that sailing incident. Besides, that child has a grandmother.”

Once the housekeeper, Mrs. Volescu, helped me into the wheelchair, I told Nolan, “Stop being a busybody. Let’s go. We’re going back to Florinberg.”

“Didn’t you hear what that woman said? Our child is going to be sold off!”

I looked straight at Nolan, and he immediately froze.

“I-I heard it in my head. Alex has a light case of asthma. His grandmother thinks he’s a burden.”

I remained silent. Nolan became excitable again as he suggested, “We can hire the child’s grandmother to be a nanny. She can take care of you while making money to raise the child.”

“No,” I said decisively.

Nolan frowned. “Rosa, you’ve always been so kind. How could you leave him to die?”

“You haven’t even taken one look at your daughter,” I said, interrupting him. “Is Lucy your baby or that kid?”

“Lucy, of course!” Nolan blurted out. He sounded tense. Quickly, he reached out to take our daughter.

But I moved to avoid him. I looked at him inquisitively.

“With the way you’re acting, I want to do a paternity test.”

Nolan’s hands hung frozen in midair as he rushed to explain.

“Trust me, Rosa. Alex and Lucy are my only children. It’s just that I miss Alex so much—”

My expression was steely, my gaze cold.

Nolan could not help but gulp.

All of a sudden, I spluttered and burst into laughter. The iciness melted away as I teased, “Look how worried you are. I was just joking. I know what kind of man you are. How could I not? But that old lady can’t ever be a nanny. We can bring the kid home, though.”

Nolan’s posture loosened. His voice was a little croaky as he said emotionally, “I’m so lucky to have a wife like you, Rosa.”

I opened my mouth to reply. “On one condition.”

He glanced at me, his hands balling into fists by his sides.

“Once we find a suitable candidate to adopt that boy, we’re sending him away.”