The Day I Lost My Baby, My Husband's Mistress Had His Twins

The day I delivered a stillborn, my fake-heiress sister gave birth to twins in the room next door.

I was slipping away, drowning in grief, when I overheard my biological parents talking.

That money pit next door thought she could steal our Odette Swanson's place. This dead baby is her punishment.

Blood means nothing. Odette and those two babies are the only family we'll ever claim.

My husband of five years, Elmer Delgado, noticed me standing there. He tossed a set of divorce papers at me without so much as a flicker of remorse.

If you hadn't forced your way in, Odette would've been my wife. She's the one who gave me a son and a daughter. Just go.

I stood frozen, as if lightning had split me down the center. My fingers closed around the divorce papers, and I walked away.

None of them knew.

Before I'd even gone into labor, Old Mr. Delgado had already transferred every last asset of the Delgado family into my name.

Darlie, the Delgados have had a single heir every generation. The child in your belly is the future of this family.

A girl counts just the same.

He'd said it without a second's hesitation, then left the country to retire abroad.

While I was still reeling, the legal severance of parental rights hit me square in the face.

My mother walked toward me, her voice low, the disgust in her eyes barely concealed.

Since you're leaving anyway, let's make this clean. I don't want you crawling back later.

A DNA test is just a worthless piece of paper. Odette and her children are our real family. You're a married-off daughter. You're nothing to us.

Her words carved through me. For a moment I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, could only feel the blade twisting somewhere behind my ribs.

Years ago, desperate for a son, they hadn't hesitated to dump me at an orphanage.

After that, they were never able to conceive again, so they adopted Odette instead.

The day they finally tracked me down, I was naive enough to believe I was getting a family at last.

All I got was a substitute bride assignment, sent to marry the man Odette was supposed to wed.

Darlene Swanson! How dare you talk like that! You don't have an ounce of the grace Odette has!

Elmer's voice cut through my thoughts.

I don't measure up to her? I considered that for a moment, then nodded, almost to myself.

You're right. Otherwise, why would they have gone through all that trouble to drag me back just to marry you in her place?

That shut him up. Odette rushed over to me, her face crumpling into a portrait of wounded innocence.

How can you twist things around like this, Darlene? Back then, you were the one who forced me

I was so scared. I keep thinking about what you would have done to me if I'd said no

As she spoke, she squeezed out a few tears, performing as though she'd suffered some unbearable injustice.

Every pair of eyes in that hospital room turned on me, righteous and hateful.

I met their glares. The corners of my mouth twitched into something bitter.

Enjoy the show. I've lost interest in watching.

I turned and left without looking back.

Back home, the nursery I'd spent months preparing hit me the second I walked in. My legs nearly gave out.

Before the hospital, Elmer had held me so carefully, his arms wrapped around me, his voice soft and adoring.

Darlie, next time we walk through that door, there'll be three of us.

In those hours between life and death, I'd caught one glimpse of my baby through the glass of the incubator.

And then, in the space of a blink, he was ash sealed inside a cold urn.

Ten months of carrying him. Hours of nearly dying to bring him into the world. Gone.

My hands shook as I pulled out my phone and dialed the most reputable private investigator in the country.

A million dollars. Find out how my child really died.

After I hung up, my gaze drifted to the wedding photo on the wall. The ache spread through me, thick and relentless, filling every crack it could find.

All I ever wanted, for as long as I could remember, was a home.

The very day my biological parents acknowledged me, they told me the wedding date was already set. A childhood spent drifting from place to place had left me terrified of marriage.

But Elmer gave me three months to think it over.

I was afraid of the dark, so Elmer set off fireworks for three straight nights. Everywhere I looked, the sky blazed as bright as daylight.

I loved gardenias, so Elmer built an entire greenhouse estate filled with them, climate be damned.

Once, I dreamed about a pastry I wanted to try. He drove nearly twenty hours through the night just to set it in front of me.

On our wedding day, the motorcade circled the city three times, a procession so lavish it brought Riverside City to a standstill.

When I got pregnant, he lit up like a kid who'd won the grand prize, giddy and breathless, before pulling me gently into his arms.

Darlie, wherever I am, that's your home. Trust me. I'll get it right.

The buzz of my phone ripped me out of the memory.

A notification from a flagged account. Elmer's.

In the photo, he had his arm around Odette and the two children, his expression soft.

The caption readYou are my greatest treasure.

I stared at those words until my vision blurred and my pupils lost focus.

The next time I opened my eyes, the cold of the floor had woken me.

My phone was full of messages and missed calls. Not a single one from my family.

The results about my baby had come in.

I barely made it two steps before the nanny and housekeeper's voices drifted over, dripping with scorn.

What do you expect from a girl born to a mother who never raised her? Even after they took her back, neither parent gives a damn. Can't even keep her own child alive.

Exactly. No parents her whole life, and now a perfectly healthy pregnancy ends with a dead baby. Bad luck follows that woman like a shadow.

I dug my nails into my palms until the pain bit deep, a chill spreading through my chest.

I hadn't expected it. The staff this household had treated so generously were nothing but ungrateful vipers.

I drew a slow breath and spoke, each word deliberate.

You can go back to the countryside and farm. Starting today, no one will ever hire either of you again.

Their eyes went wide. Their mouths opened and closed, but not a single word came out.

I didn't hesitate. I got in the car and drove. The closer I got to the hospital, the heavier the unease settled in my stomach.

When I reached the door, my feet felt like they'd been poured full of lead. I couldn't lift them.

The truth is all in here. The young assistant's face was grim as he handed me a report.

My hands shook as I reached for it. My fingertips were ice-cold, and I could barely keep hold of those few thin pages.

I had braced myself. I had prepared for the worst. But the moment I saw the facts laid out in front of me, my whole body began to tremble.

My baby had been whole. Healthy. Perfect.

And then, after my parents and Elmer came to see him, he was suddenly dead. Suffocated.

I stared at the report until my eyes burned and my blood ran cold.

A lab technician walked over to me, his expression heavy with reluctance.

The hospital surveillance footage from that window has been deliberately deleted. Every record related to the infant's death has been wiped clean.

He pausedBut the evidence we do have is more than enough to turn this around for you.

I raised my head slowly and nodded.

The hatred coiling inside me was so vast it threatened to swallow me whole.

I had clung to the faintest remaining hope for family, for that fragile scrap of belonging, and bent to their every wish because of it.

And in the end, they repaid me by killing my child with their own hands.

The thought hit like ice water in my lungs. I pressed my back flat against the wall and locked my knees, using every ounce of strength I had left just to stay on my feet.

My phone cut through the silence. Elmer.

Darlene, who gave you permission to sell the Delgado estate?

My patience is running thin. You'd better have an explanation ready when you come back.

Before I could say a word, the line went dead.

I pushed open the doors to the living room, and the sight that greeted me made my fists clench instantly.

Odette was sitting in the seat of honor, perfectly at ease, and her twins had already been settled into the nursery as if they belonged there.

You have the nerve to show your face here! Who do you think you are, selling the Delgado property?

The moment my mother saw me, she charged over without hesitation and slapped me hard across the face.

Have you forgotten you're already divorced from Elmer? That house is Delgado property, not something you can sell on a whim! You go buy it back right now, or I swear I'll make you pay!

She paused, her tone sharpening into a warning.

Odette just gave birth and her body is still fragile. Don't you dare cause a scene here!

I looked at her, almost amused. Didn't I just give birth too?

The color drained from her face. Her mouth opened, then closed. She had nothing.

Elmer walked over to me with a frown. Stop making a fuss. I'll compensate you for the baby.

He extended his hand, holding out his one and only black card.

I stared at that outstretched hand, and a bone-deep chill flooded through me. Hatred so thick it nearly swallowed me whole.

Is that the same hand you used to strangle my child?

The living room went dead silent.

Everyone froze, exchanging glances, their eyes wide with shock and barely concealed panic.

Youwhat are you talking about? My mother stammered, tripping over her own words.

The babythe baby was stillborn! Don't you dare stand there and throw around baseless accusations!

Enough! My father cut her off without a shred of hesitation.

He looked down at me, his eyes full of open contempt.

A child with no real parents to speak of. Why would we be afraid of you? Even if you do know the truth, what are you going to do about it?

A baby that didn't survive just means it wasn't meant to live!

The air left my lungs. For a moment, the weight of it crushed me so completely I couldn't breathe.

I slowly lifted my head and let out a cold, sharp laugh.

Fine. Then every last one of you can join my child in the ground.

The instant those words left my mouth, the front doors slammed open.

Several court officers in uniform filed in one after another and stopped before me, their posture formal and deferential.

Ma'am, the acquisition of the Swanson family's assets has been completed. All properties belonging to both the Swanson and Delgado families have been fully inventoried and transferred.

Due to your existing inheritance rights with the Swanson family, no acquisition fees were required.

The officer's words settled over the room like a verdict. The entire living room of the Delgado estate fell into absolute silence.

Every person present stared at me, their eyes churning with disbelief.

The same people who had been hurling insults at me moments ago stood frozen where they were, unable to produce a single sound.

Odette, who had sat there the whole time reaping the rewards without lifting a finger, finally couldn't sit still.

She lurched to her feet, ignoring the two swaddled infants still in her arms, and staggered toward me.

How?

She screamed it at me, hysterical, looking like she wanted to tear me apart with her bare hands.

How can you just take everything from me?

I'm the one Mom and Dad raised like a princess! I'm the one who was supposed to be Mrs. Delgado! You're nothing but a throwaway, a stray they dragged back to marry in my place. So how? How do you get to have all of this?

Her shrieking echoed through the living room. The babies in her arms wailed in terror, but she didn't pull back an inch.

I raised one brow, my gaze steady and unbothered. Because I'm the real one.

All of this should have been mine.

The family that should have loved me. The marriage that should have been mine. The child that should have been in my arms. They ripped it all away.

Now I was simply taking back what belonged to me.

You're just on a power trip! Odette screamed, her voice cracking into hysteria. It doesn't matter what you do. Your baby is already dead!

She paused deliberately, twisting every word like a blade into my chest.

When he died, he was still struggling. He couldn't even cry. And you? You were lying on that bed like a corpse, completely helpless!

You couldn't even protect your own child. So what if you have all the money in the world? You'll always be a failure. A pathetic woman who couldn't keep her baby alive!

Hatred flooded through me so fast and so violently that I could barely breathe. I swung my hand and slapped her across the face.

The force of it snapped Odette's head to the side. Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. The infant in her arms wailed louder. She stood frozen for a few seconds before the shock registered, staring at me in disbelief.

Before she could erupt, I stepped forward. Odette, you don't get to say his name.

When you killed him, did you stop to think he was a living, breathing human being? What makes you think you have the right to stand here and throw that in my face?

The murderous intent in my eyes made Odette tremble head to toe. She shrank back instinctively but still refused to yield.

My parents, the moment they saw me strike Odette, lost their minds.

They thrashed against the guards restraining them, lunging toward me like they wanted to tear me apart with their bare hands.

You actually hit her!

You ungrateful traitor! We should have strangled you back then and saved ourselves the trouble of you destroying us today!

We spared your life! We pulled you out of that orphanage! And instead of being grateful, you turn around and wipe us out? What kind of heartless, soulless monster are you?!

You're nothing but gutter trash! You'll rot for this!

The filth poured from Bonnie's mouth in an endless torrent.

I drew a long breath. What a joke.

They murdered my child with their own hands, and now they stood here wrapping themselves in the robes of my saviors.

Talking about killing as though it were a favor.

Elmer stood rigid, eyes locked on the property documents the court officers had handed over. His fingers clenched the papers so hard his knuckles went white.

He couldn't fathom it. He was the sole heir of the Delgado family. Every last asset, now listed under my name.

That fortune was the foundation he'd stood on his entire life, the source of every ounce of arrogance he'd ever carried.

How could it all belong to someone else overnight?

Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! Elmer's head snapped up, his voice raw and frantic. You people made a mistake. These documents are forged! There is no way Delgado assets are under her name!

I met that look of disbelief and, right in front of all of them, produced Old Mr. Delgado's personal seal.

The seal spoke for the man himself.