Found you!

With this newfound love for my baby, the next four months passed by in a jiffy, and it was finally time to deliver the baby.

The moment the first contraction hit me, I gained a profound respect for my mother — even though I didn’t remember much about her. If this is the pain all mothers feel before they are called a mother, then they deserve my utmost respect.

So then and there, I promised to love my child with every part of me... but I guess fate had other plans.

“We’re very sorry, Mrs. Simpson, but the baby was stillborn,” the doctor announced, bowing her head like she was scared to disclose the news.

I couldn’t believe my ears... no, I wouldn’t have it. What was she talking about?

“What are you saying, Doc... is this some kind of prank?” I asked, looking like a person on the verge of going crazy.

“We tried our best, ma’am. I’m sorry,” she stated, bowing her head even more.

“No!!! That’s impossible... I heard the baby cry! I carried this child for nine months — there’s no way I wouldn’t know if the baby inside me was dead or not!” I said, grabbing the doctor’s lab coat. “Please, doctor, tell me it’s not true.”

I kept pleading, but all my efforts yielded futile results.

I was in a private room at the hospital, so I was able to cry my heart out without anyone saying I was being too loud.

I cried until my tears dried. My body ached from sobbing, but the pain inside only grew heavier. When Jamie hugged me, I didn’t resist. I pressed my face into his coat — by the time I stopped, it was soaked.

“Sam, are you alright? The doctor who helped you deliver was a friend, and she told me everything. Are you okay? I was so worried when you never came back for antenatal care, but I saw your husband, and he said you traveled and might be having the baby there. I’m so sorry for your loss, Sam,” Jamie explained, trying to sympathize with me, but I wasn’t having it.

I thought all the tears in my eyes had dried up, but I guess they hadn’t.

“Jamie, please tell your friend to find my son. I know I passed out immediately after having the baby, but I heard her say I had a bouncing baby boy. I also heard my baby cry... you have to believe me, Jamie,” I muttered under a raspy breath. Too much crying was making me lose my voice.

All Jamie could do was hug me. It didn’t comfort me at all, but I didn’t push him away. I cried my heart out once more, and by the time I was done, the part of his lab coat where my face had been was entirely drenched.

Thanks to the sedatives Jamie injected. The sedatives finally pulled me under — but the nightmare was waiting.

But waking up was just as scary as the nightmare because my mother-in-law was sitting in a chair at the far end of my bed.

I sat up and uttered weakly,

“What more do you want from me? The baby you wanted to hide from the world so badly is already gone, and I’m not married to your son anymore, so what more do you want?”

“Tch tch tch, what a pitiful child you are,” she said, staring out the window like something interesting was going on outside. “It’s true you owe me nothing... but what can I say? I’m the clingy type,” she stated, walking toward my bed.

What is she talking about now?

Just as I was still confused about what she was saying, two heavily built men burst into the room and pulled me off the bed.

“What do you think you’re doing?!!!” I yelled at the top of my voice, but she didn’t seem to be listening at all.

“There’s an auction soon. People, organs... you name it. Shame the baby’s gone — two-for-one would’ve fetched more.” she said, walking back to the chair to get her bag.

“Is this why you kept me in the basement for this long?! So you could auction me and my child off?! Do you even consider yourself human?! How could you do something so despicable?!” I roared, not caring if anyone else heard our conversation.

“Well, next time you’ll think twice before cheating on my son!” she uttered plainly.

“What about when you made me deliver drugs? I hadn’t cheated on your son then, had I?! You traffic drugs and humans too?! That’s the most—”

She didn’t even look at me — just waved for them to gag me.

“ She keeps spewing nonsense.Humans sell better when they’re quiet. Pity the baby’s gone — double profits wasted.” she said, turning to leave the hospital room.

---

It was finally the day of the auction.

“And now, we are presented with a human who looks a little unkempt right now, but with a little care from her owner, she would be as good as new,” the host’s voice rang over the speakers in what seemed like a dungeon used for illegal gambling.

But I couldn’t look much. Being locked in a basement for three months without any light, and suddenly being on stage where all the attention and the spotlight were on me, was enough to make me shut my eyes and wait for what was to come.

“We’ll start with $25,000.”

Is that my worth? Do I amount to nothing? Was being loved something I shouldn’t dream of — that I have to be sold at an auction?

“$26,000.”

“$26,500.”

“$30,000.”

“$30,000 — is there anyone who wants to bid higher? Going once, going twice…”

This went on for a few more minutes, and I gave up hope. This was it — this was where my life journey ended. I would get sold here, and if my buyer was an organ trafficker, he would probably kill me and sell off my organs.

“Five hundred million dollars,” a deep, manly voice grunted from the corner of the room.

The host froze mid-sentence. Even the gamblers went quiet.

From the shadows, a man stood, his face hidden beneath the brim of his hat.

“Found you.”

I didn’t know him. But the way he said it — calm, certain — made my blood run cold.