"But my son is also Matteo’s son."
The words echoed in my skull, each syllable sharp and merciless.
I stared at Candice, my twin, my own flesh and blood—yet in that moment, she felt like a stranger. My pulse roared in my ears as I turned to Matteo, my voice barely above a whisper.
“What… what is happening?” My hands clenched at my sides. “Matteo, are you cheating on me with my sister?”
His eyes widened. “No! I wasn’t cheating on you, Cassandra. I swear.”
I turned to Candice, my breath shaky. “Then explain. Right now.”
She inhaled sharply, guilt flashing across her face. Then, she spoke, her voice trembling.
“The night before my wedding with Derek… I found out I was pregnant with Matteo’s child.”
Derek. My ex-fiancé. The man I was supposed to marry.
The memories surged forward like a flood, drowning me in a past I had fought so hard to forget.
Years ago, Derek and I had been engaged, our wedding set to be a grand event—one that was supposed to mark the happiest day of my life. But fate had other plans.
On the morning of the wedding, Candice and I had been kidnapped.
I still remembered the suffocating darkness, the rough hands dragging us into an unmarked van. The frantic screams. The ropes biting into my wrists. The chilling laughter of our captors as they taunted us.
We were held for ransom, two identical sisters at the mercy of cruel men.
But our parents—our parents only had enough money to save one. And they chose Candice.
I could still hear the moment they told me. The moment my world shattered.
"We’re sorry, Cassandra. We could only save one."
I had begged. Screamed. Pleaded. But the decision had been made. Candice was released, and I was left behind.
Left to be tortured. Left to suffer in a way no one could imagine.
For weeks, I endured their cruelty—starvation, beatings, pain that still haunted me in my nightmares. Until Matteo found me. Until he rescued me. He was my hero.
But by then, it was too late.
Derek had already married Candice. The life that was supposed to be mine had been handed to my sister.
I had lost everything. And now—now Candice was standing in front of me, confessing that the night before she took my place as Derek’s wife, she had slept with Matteo. With my Matteo.
I took a step back, as if putting distance between us would keep me from drowning in the betrayal. My voice was barely above a whisper. “You were pregnant… before your wedding? With Matteo’s child?”
Candice nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. “I didn’t tell Derek. I couldn’t. It would’ve ruined everything. I was already marrying him, and after what happened to you… I didn’t want another scandal. I thought—I thought I could keep it buried forever.”
Buried. Like a secret. Like a mistake she could erase.
Matteo ran a hand through his hair, his voice strained. “Cassandra, I swear, I didn’t know. I had no idea she was pregnant with my child.”
I barely heard him. My mind was spiraling, unraveling, trying to piece together a past that suddenly made no sense.
Candice stepped closer, her desperation seeping into every word. “But now… now I have no choice.” She choked back a sob. “Our son—he inherited my kidney disease. He’s critical, Cassandra. If he doesn’t get a transplant, he won’t make it.”
“No!” My voice was raw, breaking under the weight of my fury and devastation. “That is the kidney for my daughter—not your son!”
The words hung in the air, heavy and immovable.
Candice wasn’t giving up. She turned to Matteo, grasping his hands as tears streamed down her face. “Please, Matteo. He’s your son. You can’t let him die. You saved me once… please, save our son now.”
I stepped in between them, my hands trembling. “Matteo, you promised. You promised to save our daughter.”
His face was unreadable, torn between two impossible choices.
One kidney. Two lives hanging in the balance.
And then—
He made his decision.
Matteo turned away from me.
Toward Candice.
“I’m sorry, Cassandra.” His voice was barely a whisper. “I have to save him.”
The world tilted. I felt my breath leave my lungs, my body swaying as if the ground beneath me had disappeared.
“No…” My voice cracked, disbelief numbing every nerve in my body.
But it was real.
Matteo chose Candice’s child.
Not ours.
Not Amber.
I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. I could only watch as they rushed Candice’s son into surgery, as Matteo was taken away to save him.
And I stood there, frozen, as my daughter faded away.
That night, while Candice wept tears of joy for her son’s survival, I stood alone in the pouring rain—burying my daughter.
No one stood beside me.
No one held me as I sobbed over the tiny coffin lowering into the earth.
I had never felt so betrayed.
