Chapter 3: The Missing Baby
Daniel came to my house before sunrise.
I knew something was wrong before I opened the door.
He was still wearing the same clothes from the night before. His hair was messy, and he looked like he hadn’t slept at all.
Sophie was asleep upstairs, unaware that her one innocent sentence had destroyed an entire marriage.
“Come in,” I whispered.
Daniel walked inside and sat at my kitchen table.
For several minutes, he just stared at his hands.
“I feel stupid.””
“You’re not stupid.””
“I built a nursery.””
His voice broke.
“I painted walls. I picked out names. I held her stomach every night and talked to our baby.””
I sat across from him.
“Daniel…”
“What kind of person does that?””
I didn’t have an answer.
Because I was asking myself the same question.
A few hours later, Daniel showed me everything he had found.
The fake belly.
The missing medical records.
The messages.
Then he showed me something else.
A bank statement.
There was a payment made three months earlier to a company that sold pregnancy props for theater productions.
The amount was almost five hundred dollars.
But that wasn’t the part that scared him.
The description attached to the payment was:
*Custom Size — Long-Term Wear.*
“She planned this,” Daniel whispered.
I looked at the screen.
“Why?””
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.””
A notification appeared on Daniel’s phone.
Another message from Claire.
He opened it.
*We need to talk. Alone. Don’t bring your sister.*
Daniel looked at me.
“I’m going.””
“You shouldn’t go by yourself.””
“I need answers.””
I wanted to argue.
But I knew my brother.
Once he decided something, nothing could stop him.
Two hours later, he called me.
I answered immediately.
“What happened?””
His breathing was heavy.
“She admitted it.””
I stood up.
“She admitted she wasn’t pregnant?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
There was a long silence.
Then Daniel said:
“She thought I was going to leave her.””
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“She said she knew I wanted a family. She thought if she couldn’t give me one, I’d find someone else.””
I closed my eyes.
“That doesn’t explain pretending for months.””
“I know.””
“Daniel, what else did she say?””
He didn’t answer.
That scared me more than anything.
“Daniel?””
“She didn’t just fake the pregnancy.””
My grip tightened around the phone.
“What are you saying?””
“She said there was a reason she picked today for the truth to come out.””
“Why today?””
His voice dropped.
“Because she was never planning to have a baby.””
A cold silence filled the call.
“Then what was she planning?””
Before Daniel could answer, I heard a door slam on his end.
A woman’s voice.
Not Claire’s.
Someone older.
Someone angry.
“Daniel, you have no idea what your wife has done.””
My brother whispered my name.
Then the call cut off.
A minute later, my phone received a photo.
It was a picture of a hospital document.
At the top was Claire’s name.
And underneath it was a date from eight months earlier.
The same month she announced she was pregnant.
But the patient information below wasn’t for Claire.
It was for someone else.
A woman whose name I recognized.
May you like
Because she was standing in my family’s baby shower photos.
And she had been smiling beside Claire the entire time.
