“DANIEL!”

Emily’s scream shattered the silence of the house.

Daniel ran into the bedroom and froze.

His pregnant wife was collapsing beside the bed.

One hand gripped the bedsheet.

The other was wrapped tightly around her stomach.

“Emily!”

Daniel rushed forward just as her knees hit the floor.

A vase crashed beside her, shattering across the hardwood. Their wedding photograph fell with it, the glass frame breaking in two.

Emily began to cry.

“Daniel… something’s wrong.”

His face went pale.

He dropped to his knees and wrapped one arm around her shoulders.

“Look at me. Stay with me.”

“It hurts…”

“Where?”

“My stomach.”

Daniel immediately pulled out his phone.

“I’m calling an ambulance.”

Then a voice came from behind him.

“Don’t.”

Daniel slowly turned.

His mother, Margaret, was standing in the doorway.

The sixty-year-old woman had both hands over her mouth.

She looked horrified.

But there was something else in her expression.

Fear.

Daniel stared at her.

“What did you say?”

Margaret lowered her hands.

“Don’t call an ambulance.”

Daniel couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“My pregnant wife is on the floor!”

“I know.”

“Then move!”

He began dialing.

Margaret rushed into the room.

“Daniel, wait!”

Emily cried out again.

Daniel held her closer.

“Mom, get away from us.”

Margaret stopped.

Her eyes filled with tears.

“You don’t understand.”

“Then explain!”

Margaret looked at Emily.

Emily looked back at her.

And suddenly, Daniel noticed something strange.

His wife’s fear had changed.

She wasn’t only in pain.

She was terrified of Margaret.

Daniel’s voice became quiet.

“What happened before I came upstairs?”

Neither woman answered.

“Emily?”

Emily tightened her grip around his arm.

“Your mother came into our room.”

Daniel looked at Margaret.

“Why?”

Margaret shook her head.

“Daniel, please—”

Emily interrupted her.

“She wanted me to sign something.”

Daniel frowned.

“Sign what?”

Emily pointed weakly toward the broken wedding photograph.

There was a folded piece of paper beneath it.

Daniel reached for it.

Margaret immediately stepped forward.

“Don’t!”

Daniel grabbed the paper.

He opened it.

His expression changed.

It was a legal document.

At the top was Emily’s name.

Below it were several paragraphs concerning the baby.

Daniel stared at his mother.

“What is this?”

Margaret said nothing.

“Mom!”

“I was trying to protect you.”

“From what?”

Margaret looked at Emily.

Then she whispered:

“From her.”

Daniel stood slowly.

“My wife is pregnant with my child.”

Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.

“That’s exactly the problem.”

Emily suddenly began sobbing.

“Please don’t listen to her.”

Daniel looked between them.

“What is going on?”

Margaret reached into her pocket.

She pulled out an envelope.

“I wasn’t supposed to show you this tonight.”

Daniel stared at it.

“What is it?”

“Something I received three days ago.”

“From who?”

“The clinic.”

The room went silent.

Daniel’s expression changed.

“What clinic?”

Margaret handed him the envelope.

Emily shook her head.

“No…”

Daniel looked at his wife.

“Emily?”

“Daniel, please. We need to go to the hospital.”

But Daniel had already opened the envelope.

Inside was a copy of a medical document.

He read the first line.

Then the second.

His hands began trembling.

He looked at Emily.

“What does this mean?”

Emily started crying harder.

Margaret stepped closer.

“It means there was a problem with the fertility clinic’s records.”

Daniel stared at her.

“What kind of problem?”

Margaret hesitated.

Then she said:

“The embryo identification numbers don’t match.”

Daniel stopped breathing.

Emily closed her eyes.

Daniel looked down at the paperwork again.

Then at his pregnant wife.

“Did you know?”

Emily didn’t answer.

“Emily… did you know?”

“I found out yesterday.”

Daniel stumbled backward.

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“I was going to!”

“When?”

“Tonight!”

Margaret shook her head.

“She wasn’t going to tell you.”

“STOP!”

Daniel’s shout filled the bedroom.

Emily suddenly screamed again.

The papers fell from Daniel’s hands.

Whatever questions he had no longer mattered.

He dropped beside her.

“Emily!”

Her breathing had become shallow.

Daniel grabbed his phone.

Margaret reached toward him.

“Daniel—”

He pulled away.

“No.”

He dialed emergency services.

“I don’t care what those papers say. I don’t care whose mistake this was. She’s my wife, and she needs help.”

Margaret went silent.

Daniel gave the address and begged the dispatcher to hurry.

Then Emily grabbed his hand.

“Daniel…”

“I’m here.”

“There’s something else.”

He looked down at her.

“What?”

Emily’s eyes moved toward Margaret.

Margaret’s face suddenly went white.

“Emily, don’t.”

Daniel turned toward his mother.

“Don’t what?”

Emily struggled to speak.

“The clinic didn’t send those papers to Margaret.”

Daniel frowned.

“What?”

“I called them this morning.”

Margaret backed toward the door.

Emily continued.

“They said they never contacted her.”

Daniel slowly looked at the envelope in his hand.

Then at his mother.

“Where did you get this?”

Margaret said nothing.

“Mom…”

She began crying.

“Where did you get it?”

Sirens could be heard approaching in the distance.

Margaret looked at her son.

Then she whispered:

“I made it.”

Daniel stared at her.

“You… what?”

“The document isn’t real.”

Emily closed her eyes as tears rolled down her face.

Daniel looked at the forged medical papers.

Then at the document Margaret had tried to make Emily sign.

His voice became almost inaudible.

“Why?”

Margaret’s expression collapsed.

“Because she was going to take you away from me.”

Daniel looked at his mother as if he no longer recognized her.

“You terrified my pregnant wife because you were afraid I’d leave?”

Margaret shook her head desperately.

“You don’t understand. Ever since you married her—”

“No.”

Daniel stood between Margaret and Emily.

“You’re the one who doesn’t understand.”

Red emergency lights began flashing through the bedroom windows.

Daniel looked down at Emily.

Then he noticed something on the floor.

Beside the shattered vase.

A small security camera.

The one he had installed months earlier after several valuables mysteriously disappeared from the bedroom.

Its tiny green light was still blinking.

Recording.

Daniel slowly looked at Margaret.

She followed his eyes.

And froze.

Her face turned white.

Because suddenly, the forged documents were no longer the only evidence.

Everything that happened before Emily collapsed had been recorded.