When the family next door moved in, I didn’t think much of it. Just a man and his daughter. Nice enough. Quiet. But the first time I saw their daughter, Lily, playing with mine, something inside me froze.
Emma and Lily danced in our backyard like two sunflowers chasing the sun. Their giggles laced through the air—light, carefree, echoing a kind of innocent joy that should’ve made me smile.
But I didn’t smile.
Because they looked identical.
Same golden curls. Same dimpled cheeks. Even the same upturned nose and curious glint in their eyes. If not for Emma being slightly taller, I might have reached for the wrong child.
I felt Jack step beside me. “Heather? You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I forced a smile. “Just thinking.”
But inside, my thoughts were spiraling—dragging me into a place I wasn’t ready to confront. A place where betrayal lived.
Emma ran over then, tugging Jack’s hand. “Come push us on the swing, Daddy!”
Jack smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“Sure, sweetheart.”
I watched him follow them. The way Lily looked at him… the way he looked at her.
