Chapter 7
“You don’t need to wait for the DNA report anymore. Just pretend this never happened, Erika said, her voice shaky.
Collin, unable to stand it any longer, stepped forward. “William, she’s your real sister! How can you say such things to hurt her? Don’t you know how much Erika has suffered all these years? She’s been through so much, and now she’s finally found her real family. Saying things like that is just pushing her into a corner!”
The others gathered around Erika, offered comfort, handed her tissues, and gently patted her back. It took some time before her sobs finally began to subside.
After a while, my mother pulled out her phone and handed it to William. “William, did you ever see someone swap your sister when we were little at the maternity center?”
William stared at the video of the little boy following the nanny, clearly puzzled as he searched his memory. “I remember that day. It was just me and Jessica in the room. Then a nanny came and told me to play hide–and–seek with her, saying if I won, I’d get candy. I followed her to see where she was hiding, but instead of hiding, she went into a room with Jessica. It was dark in there, and I thought Jessica would be scared, so I ran over and brought her back to Mom’s room. But when I got there, I found another baby in Jessica’s bed. I was upset. Why should someone else be in her bed? So I put Jessica back and took the strange baby to the nurse.”
My mom and my dad listened in shock and anger, but also with relief, as they realized the truth. My dad, in disbelief, slapped William on the back of the head. “So someone swapped Jessie, and this idiot just swapped her back without realizing it?”
The story left me completely stunned. It was more dramatic than anything on TV.
“So, I really am Mom and Dad’s child?” I asked, my voice trembling with disbelief and hope.
William, still rubbing his sore head, shot me a look of exasperation. “Just look at yourself in the mirror. You and Mom are almost the same. If you weren’t Dad’s kid, I could believe that, but you’re definitely 100% Mom’s child, no doubt about it.”
Hearing this, my dad slapped William again on his head and said, “You brat, stop talking nonsense!”
As we continued joking and talking, the mood in the room lightened and became more relaxed.
But Erika, overwhelmed by the situation, suddenly screamed, “You’re lying! This can’t be true! William, are you helping Jessica trick me because you don’t want me to come home? Why are you all siding with that imposter?!”
