تسجيل الدخولShawn Dad closed his eyes.Mom's tears flowed freely.“I wanted you.” Her voice broke. “I wanted you for myself. I couldn't conceive. Your father and I had spent years hoping and praying for a child. Then suddenly, there you were.”She laughed weakly through her tears.“You were so beautiful. You had fought so hard just to survive, and somehow, you had made your way into my heart. I knew you belonged to someone else, but I wanted to be the one who protected you.”“So, we spoke with the nurse and doctor. We asked questions. We discussed what would happen to you, and eventually, a decision was made… They told your mother that you didn't make it.”My stomach dropped.Mom's voice was barely above a whisper. She lowered her head, unable to look at me.“They arranged the paperwork. The necessary documents were processed, and eventually… We legally adopted you.”Silence.Absolute silence.My mind struggled to process what I had just heard.Mom broke down again.“We’re sorry.” She pressed a
ShawnMom took a deep, shaky breath.For several seconds, she said nothing. Her fingers remained wrapped around mine, but they were trembling so badly that I could feel every slight movement.Dad stood beside her, one hand resting gently against her shoulder.The room had gone completely quiet.“Eighteen years ago,” she began quietly, “your father and I went to St. Catherine Medical Center.”“We had recently acquired a stake in the hospital,” she continued. “Your father and I were part of the hospital's board partnership, so we decided to visit personally and see how the facility was being managed. We wanted to meet some of the medical staff, review the operations, and understand how everything was running.”She paused.“It was supposed to be nothing more than a business visit.” Her voice cracked slightly. “But then we decided to visit one of the hospital's wings.”“The NICU,” Dad added quietly.My chest tightened. Somehow, I already knew where this story was heading, yet nothing coul
ShawnSo many thoughts raced through my mind as I sat inside the car, staring blankly through the window.Questions had been piling up one after another in my head, each one leading to another question I didn't know how to answer. No matter how hard I tried to organize my thoughts, everything remained a tangled mess.Where was I supposed to start?How was I supposed to process any of this?There was only one way to put an end to the uncertainty… Answers… Real answers.That was the reason I had made this trip the moment I left the hospital.“Young master, we've arrived.”The driver's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked up and realized that the car had already come to a stop.Outside the window stood my parents' private house in Philadelphia.A strange sense of nervousness settled over me. This was it. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and stepped out of the car.My feet carried me toward the house, but every step seemed heavier than the last. By the time I reached the fr
OliviaThe room fell completely silent.No one spoke.No one moved.Mom remained on the hospital bed, her face turned toward the door. Sam sat stiffly in the chair near the corner, his arms resting on his thighs as he stared ahead, clearly trying to process everything that had just happened.As for me, I sat a few feet away from Mom, my mind still struggling to catch up with reality.The wall clock continued ticking above us.Tick-tock.Tick-tock.Each sound seemed louder than the last in the suffocating silence. Every few seconds, my gaze drifted toward the door.My head still couldn't wrap itself around Mom's revelation.How could Shawn possibly be Sam's twin?He had his own life and family. He'd told us about his adoptive parents and the life he'd lived growing up, but there had never been anything that made me think he was connected to us by blood.And yet, Mom had looked at him and immediately seen something familiar.Could a mother's instinct really be that strong? Or was grief
Olivia“What was that nurse talking about, Mom?”My eyes remained fixed on Mom, searching her face for an explanation, but the woman who had been smiling and laughing only moments ago now looked like she wished the ground would just open and swallow her whole.“What exactly are you hiding from us?”Her fingers tightened around the hospital blanket, gripping the fabric so hard that her knuckles began to pale.“Mom?”I folded my arms across my chest and exchanged a glance with Sam. He was staring at Mom too, waiting for an explanation.“Mom,” Sam finally spoke. “What is going on?”She swallowed. Her shoulders slowly slumped, and a long, defeated breath escaped her lips.“I’m sorry, but there’s something I should have told both of you a very long time ago.”Neither Sam nor I moved. We simply waited.She lowered her gaze to her hands. For several seconds, she seemed to struggle with whether she should continue. Then, slowly, she lifted her head, and her eyes settled on Sam.Something abou
OliviaThe moment the door opened, my eyes immediately found the familiar figure sitting on the hospital bed.“Mom…”Mom looked up from the food she was eating, and the moment her eyes landed on me, a warm smile spread across her face.“Mom…”Without thinking twice, I hurried across the room and wrapped my arms gently around her.She laughed softly as she hugged me back. When I finally pulled away, Mom reached out and gently pinched my cheeks.“Look at you. You look so beautiful today.”A small laugh escaped me, but my eyes suddenly burned. Tears quickly gathered along my lashes as I looked at her.“Stop it, Mom.”I tried to smile, but seeing her like this made it difficult to hold back my emotions.She looked so much better.For days, I'd watched her lie weakly in that hospital bed, barely having the strength to do anything for herself.But now… she was sitting up and even eating properly. Even the color had returned to her cheeks. She looked alive and healthy again, like the mother
Olivia White. That was the first thing I noticed. White walls. White ceiling. White light that felt too bright even with my eyes barely open. The air smelled sharp and clean, like chemicals and medicine, and it made my nose sting. Where… was I? I tried to focus, my thoughts slow and heavy, like
Olivia I pushed the grocery cart forward slowly, letting it roll ahead of me as I scanned the shelves. The supermarket was calm at this hour—not too crowded, not too quiet… just the way I liked it. Pasta… pasta… I walked down the aisle, eyes moving from shelf to shelf, reading labels without real
Axel My body reacted before my mind fully caught up. I turned toward the sound instantly, and then I heard it. A voice I knew. Jasmine. I moved without hesitation. “Sir…” Derek started behind me, already falling into step as I walked through the crowd. People parted instinctively as I pushed f
Olivia My fingers moved quickly over the keyboard as I filled out yet another form, double-checking every field before moving on to the next. Name. Previous institution. Intended program of study. Statement of purpose. I paused briefly, rereading what I’d typed, then adjusted a sentence before







