Every monitor beside Ethan’s crib began screaming at once.
Teresa froze with me in her arms.
A nurse rushed through the door.
—What’s happening?
Another nurse followed her.
Then a doctor.
Teresa instinctively stepped backward.
Perfect.
More witnesses.
Ethan’s heart-rate alarm continued shrieking.
His tiny face had turned red, his fists clenched as though he were personally declaring war on the entire hospital.
【YOUR BROTHER ACTIVATED HIS PASSIVE SKILL: IF MY SISTER LEAVES, EVERYONE SUFFERS.】
If I hadn’t been terrified, I might have laughed.
The doctor examined Ethan.
—Put the baby back beside his sister.
Teresa tightened her grip.
—I’ll take Emilia for her examination first.
The floating comments exploded.
【SHE’S STILL TRYING!】
【DON’T LET HER LEAVE!】
I screamed.
Ethan screamed louder.
The doctor frowned.
—Put her down.
Teresa had no choice.
The instant I returned beside Ethan, his fingers caught my blanket.
His heart rate began stabilizing.
The room went silent.
One nurse whispered:
—That’s incredible.
No.
That was my brother.
Less than one day old and already more useful than half the adults in my previous life.
Then the door opened again.
My father had returned.
Teresa’s face changed.
Alexander looked around.
—What’s going on?
I nearly cried from relief.
The comments appeared.
【THE BUSINESS CALLER MADE A MISTAKE.】
【Alexander called his secretary directly. Nobody from the company contacted him.】
My father slowly looked at Teresa.
—Who told you I had an emergency?
She swallowed.
—I don’t understand.
—Neither do I.
His voice became cold.
—That’s why security is coming.
Teresa went pale.
She immediately turned toward my mother.
—Mrs. Hartwell can explain—
My father noticed Isabel sleeping unusually deeply.
He crossed the room.
—Isabel?
No response.
The doctor checked her.
Then looked at the medication tray.
—Who administered these?
Nobody answered.
Alexander’s gaze landed on Teresa.
That was when she ran.
She reached the hallway.
She didn’t make it to the elevator.
Hospital security stopped her.
I thought it was over.
The comments disagreed.
【DON’T CELEBRATE YET.】
【THE REPLACEMENT BABY IS ALREADY INSIDE THE HOSPITAL.】
What?
A new line appeared.
【Teresa wasn’t working alone.】
My newborn soul almost left my newborn body for the second time.
My father ordered every entrance sealed.
The medication was sent for testing.
The supposed phototherapy order for Ethan was checked.
Fake.
The glucose bottle was taken away.
Wrongly prepared.
Then security footage revealed something worse.
Three hours earlier, a woman had entered through the maternity staff entrance carrying a newborn.
She was Teresa’s daughter.
And the baby was Teresa’s granddaughter.
The child intended to become Emilia Hartwell.
Alexander watched the footage without speaking.
That silence terrified everyone.
Finally he said:
—Find them.
Twenty minutes later, Teresa’s daughter was discovered hiding in an unused family room on another floor.
The newborn was innocent.
She slept peacefully, unaware that adults had already tried to steal another child’s entire life for her.
The comments suddenly became unusually quiet.
Then:
【In the original timeline, that baby became “Emilia Hartwell.”】
【She grew up adored by Alexander and Isabel.】
【Ethan protected her his entire life.】
I looked toward my brother.
He was sleeping with one fist still tangled in my blanket.
A strange sadness entered me.
The other baby hadn’t done anything wrong.
She hadn’t planned the exchange.
She hadn’t stolen anyone.
Adults had chosen her destiny.
Just as adults had destroyed mine.
So when Teresa’s daughter was brought past our room, crying and begging them not to take her child away, I didn’t feel hatred toward the baby.
But Teresa?
She looked directly at me.
For one terrifying second, her expression wasn’t frightened.
It was resentful.
As though I had stolen something from her.
—It should have worked, she whispered.
Alexander heard her.
—What should have worked?
Teresa immediately closed her mouth.
The comments appeared.
【IMPORTANT!】
【SHE KNOWS SOMETHING SHE SHOULDN’T KNOW.】
My father stepped closer.
—Why did you choose my daughter?
Teresa said nothing.
—Why tonight?
Nothing.
Then she looked at me again.
And whispered:
—Because this is how it was supposed to happen.
My entire body went cold.
What?
The police took her away before she explained further.
By morning, my mother had awakened.
When she learned what happened, she refused to let anyone except Alexander touch either baby.
She held me against her chest and cried.
My father stood beside the window making calls.
New security.
New nurses.
Background checks.
Private guards.
Nobody entered without authorization.
Congratulations.
At less than twenty-four hours old, I had more security than several heads of state.
I finally relaxed.
Then the comments appeared again.
【Congratulations! You survived the first death flag.】
First?
FIRST?!
【Original destiny deviation: 11%.】
【Warning: changing destiny creates new variables.】
I stared into empty space.
The king of the underworld had conveniently forgotten to mention this.
Then another comment appeared.
【Look at Ethan.】
I turned my eyes.
My brother was awake.
He wasn’t looking at me.
He was staring toward the doorway.
A man stood there.
Approximately sixty.
Expensive suit.
Silver hair.
He had arrived with my grandfather Monroe.
Everyone treated him respectfully.
But Ethan suddenly began crying.
Not normal crying.
The same desperate scream he had made when Teresa carried me away.
My father frowned.
—What’s wrong with him?
The stranger approached.
Ethan screamed harder.
The comments turned red.
【DON’T LET THAT MAN TOUCH EITHER OF YOU.】
My heart sank.
Alexander immediately lifted Ethan.
The stranger stopped.
Then smiled.
—Protective little fellow.
He looked at me.
Something about his gaze made every instinct from my previous eighty years scream.
My grandfather introduced him.
—Alexander, you remember Dr. Warren Vale.
My father nodded.
Of course he did.
Vale had been the Hartwell family’s private physician for almost twenty years.
He had supervised my mother’s pregnancy.
He had recommended this hospital.
He had selected several members of the maternity team.
Including Teresa.
Oh.
Oh no.
The comments appeared one after another.
【FINALLY.】
【SOMEONE CONNECTED THE DOTS.】
【Teresa wasn’t the mastermind.】
Dr. Vale smiled at my mother.
—I heard there was an unfortunate incident.
Then he looked at me again.
—May I examine Emilia?
NO.
I immediately screamed.
Ethan joined me.
Alexander stepped between Vale and our cribs.
—Not today.
For the first time, Vale’s smile weakened.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
So did the comments.
【HE’S ANGRY.】
【In the original timeline, after the exchange, Dr. Vale personally certified the replacement baby’s identity.】
My tiny hands became cold.
That meant Teresa hadn’t simply planned to exchange two babies.
Someone with medical authority had been prepared to make the lie permanent.
My father noticed my reaction.
Then he looked at Vale.
And for reasons I still don’t understand, Alexander Hartwell trusted his newborn daughter’s instincts.
—Security.
Two guards entered.
Vale frowned.
—Alexander?
My father spoke calmly.
—Nobody who participated in Isabel’s pregnancy care leaves this hospital until the investigation is finished.
Vale’s expression changed.
Only for a second.
But that second was enough.
He turned toward the door.
One guard blocked him.
And then his phone rang.
Vale didn’t answer.
It rang again.
The screen lit up.
Alexander saw the caller’s name.
So did my grandfather.
Both men went completely still.
My father slowly looked at Vale.
—Why is Teresa Dawson calling you from police custody?
Silence.
Vale’s face finally lost its smile.
The comments exploded across my vision.
【HIDDEN STORYLINE UNLOCKED.】
【The baby exchange wasn’t about money.】
【Someone wanted the real Hartwell daughter erased because of what she would inherit at eighteen.】
I almost stopped breathing.
Another line appeared.
【And Alexander Hartwell isn’t the person who created that inheritance.】
Then the final comment appeared.
【The person who left everything to Emilia died seventeen years before she was born.】
