The same day I first heard the cry of my baby boy was also the day I learned that my husband, Hunter, an aircraft pilot, had died in a plane crash.
“Mrs. Montgomery… Hunter’s aircraft went down during a training exercise. The wreckage was found in the ocean…They never found his body.”
That night, I lay in the hospital bed with my baby sleeping beside me, trying to convince myself it was all a mistake. Any second, he would walk through the door, flash that boyish grin, and tell me everything was fine. But the days passed, and he never came.
Three days later, I woke from a brief, exhausted nap to find my son’s crib empty. The nurses searched the entire ward. Security combed the building. Police were called. But it was too late—he was gone. Kidnapped.
No ransom demand. No leads. No hope.
That was ninety days ago.
Ninety days of staring at the same ceiling, of ignoring my phone, of letting my body waste away because the thought of eating made me sick. I didn’t live; I simply existed.
But tonight, my mother-in-law Tina insisted I leave the house. “Just a small dinner,” she’d said. “It will be good for you, Victoria.”
I didn’t want to go. But saying no felt harder than just moving my numb body to the car.
The restaurant was dimly lit, filled with soft chatter and the clink of cutlery. I barely paid attention as Tina excused herself, claiming she had to take a call outside. I stayed near the corner table, sipping water and wishing I could disappear.
Then I heard it.
Not Tina’s voice alone—but another one. A voice I knew. One that lived in my bones.
“…are you insane, Hunter?” Tina’s voice was low but sharp. “You were telling me you will use the identity of your twin brother Harold and fool everyone into thinking Hunter is dead? Victoria has been depressed ever since she learned you died and now your son with her was kidnapped! And what? You will act as her brother-in-law? Do you really want her to die from the grief?”
My entire body went cold.
“What would you have me do?” His voice—God, that voice—was steady, unapologetic. “I just want to be with Alicia.”
Tina’s voice cracked. “With Alicia? The woman who left you five years ago? You faked your death to leave the woman who stayed, who comforted you? Are you really insane?”
She is also my best friend. She left town to chase her dreams, leaving Hunter in a spiral of despair I thought he’d never recover from. I was the one who picked up the pieces, the one who stayed when she didn’t. Over time, Hunter and I had grown close—close enough for him to ask me to marry him. I thought it was love. I thought it was real.
“I’m not insane,” he said. “This is love. Victoria was just… a stand-in. I never loved her. I met Alicia a year ago again, and something happened between us. I tried to forget and focus on Victoria, but Alicia came back and told me we have a baby together. So I faked my death. And now… here we are. It’s too late. I’ll just take care of her as a brother-in-law.”
The world spun. I pressed a trembling hand to my mouth, fighting the urge to scream.
It was him. My husband. Alive. Breathing. And telling his mother he never loved me.
I stumbled back toward the table, my knees weak. The sound of my pulse roared in my ears as I slid into my chair. The air felt heavy, suffocating.
When I finally made it back home, I shut myself in my room, curling into the corner of my bed. My chest ached so deeply I thought I might shatter. My mind kept replaying his words—a stand-in—until my sobs choked me.
I didn’t know how long I sat there, my tears soaking into the pillow, before I heard the door open.
“Victoria?”
Familiar hands touched my back. Large, warm, steady. The same scent of cedar and jet fuel I had once found comfort in.
“Hey, sister-in-law,” he said softly. “It’s me, Harold. I just came back for the ninety days funeral of my brother since I’ve been late for the funeral. Mom said you’ve been really depressed. But don’t worry… I’m here to take care of you now.”
I lifted my head, my vision blurred by tears.
It was him.
He looked at me with the same eyes, the same face, the same everything. His lips curved into a small, almost shy smile. “Oh. I’m sorry. Do I really look that much like him? It must be hard for you… to see me. But don’t worry, we’ll still be a happy family.”
I stared at him, my breath trembling in my chest.
Happy family? With the man who had faked his death to be with another woman?
And yet, some traitorous part of me ached at his nearness. Maybe it was loneliness. Maybe it was the ghost of the love I once thought we shared.
Before I could stop myself, I reached up, my fingers brushing his jaw. His breath caught. And then I kissed him, then whispered, “Are you really Harold?”
