Chapter 2 - The Face on the Screen
I stared blankly at the bright tablet, my breath completely catching in my dry throat.
The man in the grainy footage was wearing a dark leather jacket and a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.
But the sharp jawline, the broad shoulders, and the distinct way he walked were unmistakably my husband.
I turned slowly to Ethan, feeling a paralyzing wave of absolute terror wash over my entire body.
I instinctively backed away against the hospital pillows, clutching my empty arms tightly to my chest.
Ethan stared at the screen, his mouth open in genuine, horrified disbelief as he watched the video loop.
He swore to me on his life that he had been pacing nervously in the waiting room the entire time I was in the delivery ward.
The head nurse did not wait for an explanation and immediately pressed the emergency panic button on the wall to summon the police.
Ethan fell heavily to his knees beside my bed, begging me to believe that he would never hurt our family.
He looked me right in the eyes and frantically explained that the man on the screen was his identical twin brother, Julian.
My mind completely reeled because Ethan had always told me he was an only child whose parents passed away when he was young.
He confessed that his family was actually notoriously wealthy, deeply corrupt, and highly dangerous.
He had faked his own identity years ago to escape their criminal empire and build a normal, peaceful life with me.
Julian was supposed to be serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison located in another country.
Before I could even begin to process this massive web of lies, the hospital room phone began to ring loudly.
The shrill sound echoed off the sterile white walls, freezing everyone in the room in their tracks.
Ethan slowly stood up from the floor and picked up the heavy plastic receiver with a shaking hand.
He pressed the speakerphone button so the entire room could hear the caller's voice.
A chillingly familiar voice drifted through the line, sounding exactly like Ethan but lacking any warmth.
May you like
The voice cheerfully announced that he had our beautiful baby girl and she was currently sleeping soundly.
He added that if we ever wanted to see her alive again, Ethan had exactly one hour to come back home.
