Laura's lips separated.
“The same hospital where your twins were born.”
It all stopped.
The director's expression changed.
Mark's face was completely blank.
And suddenly I understood why.
The room.
The hospital.
The twins.
The crib.
The baby I've never seen.
Eight years of pain.
I looked at Mark.
“You knew it.
He did not answer.
“You knew it all the time.”
“Emma-”
“You knew it.
My voice broke.
Cole squeezed my hand.
“Mom, what’s going on?”
I couldn't answer him.
I couldn't take Mark's eyes away.
“Where was my other baby?”
Mark lowered his head.
Laura started crying more.
“Mark told me never to tell you.”
I turned to her.
“What?”
She nodded.
“He came to me eight years ago.”
Mark's voice suddenly rose.
“Laura, stop.”
“No.
She shook her head.
“I kept quiet because I was scared.”
“Scared of what?”
She looked at me straight.
“Frightened to lose my son.”
My whole body got numb.
I looked at Stefan.
Now he was looking at me.
There was something strangely quiet about his expression.
Almost as if I had already suspected the truth.
I walked to him.
Slowly.
One step.
And then another.
Stefan didn't move.
I crouched down in front of him.
Closely, the resemblance was even more impossible.
Those eyes.
That little birthmark.
The shape of his nose.
The curve of his chin.
I raised my shaky hand.
I stopped before I touched his face.
“Where did you get that birthmark?”
Stefan frowned.
“My mom says I was born with that.”
– When?
“Eight years ago.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“What day?”
He told me.
