CHAPTER TWO: GHOSTS DON'T CRY
863 Words
I ran until my lungs burned.
Rain soaked through my blouse. My heels snapped somewhere along the way but I kept going. Barefoot on wet pavement. Mascara streaming down my face.
When I reached my hotel suite, I slammed the door and collapsed against it.
That birthmark.
I couldn't stop watching it. Behind her left ear. Small. Shaped like a crescent moon.
My grandmother had that birthmark. I have that birthmark.
Coincidence. It had to be a coincidence.
But those eyes. Jingchen's eyes in that little girl's face. And the boy who stared at me like he recognized something his brain couldn't explain.
They were the right age. They had his features. They had my birthmark.
No.
My babies died. I held their blankets. I mourned them for five years.
They have to be dead.
Because if they're not, then someone stole them from me. Someone told me they were gone while my children grew up without me.
A sob ripped from my throat. Then another. I cried until there was nothing left.
An hour later, a knock at my door.
"Wanwan?" Gu Yebai's voice. Worried. "Xiao Lin called. She said you ran out looking like you'd seen a ghost."
I opened the door. He took one look at me and his face crumbled.
"What happened?"
He guided me to the couch. Wrapped a blanket around my shoulders. Waited.
"I saw him," I finally whispered. "Jingchen. He has children. Twins."
Yebai went still. I watched him do the math.
"The girl has my birthmark," I continued. "Behind her left ear. The same one I have."
Silence.
"It's probably nothing. Lots of people have birthmarks. I'm being crazy."
"Wanwan." He took my hands. "I've known you for five years. Your instincts have kept you alive this long. Don't dismiss them now."
"If those children are mine, then everything I believed was a lie. Someone stole my babies. Someone let me grieve while they asked for me every night."
"Then we find out the truth."
"How?"
"DNA test. You get a sample from one of the children. Within seventy-two hours, you'll know."
"I can't just walk up to them and take their hair."
"You're smart. You'll find a way." He paused. "But first, decide if you really want to know."
"What do you mean?"
"If you discover those children are yours, everything changes. You'll have to fight the Lu family. Fight whatever lies were told." His eyes were serious. "Are you ready for that war?"
I thought about Xingxing's face. Those big teary eyes. Her small voice said she wanted her mummy.
I thought about five years of lighting candles for babies who might have been alive and asking for me.
"I was ready the moment I stepped off that plane."
I didn't sleep that night.
By morning, I had a plan.
I had Xiao Lin find out which kindergarten the Lu twins attended. Bright Stars Academy. The most elite school in the city.
I arranged a visit under the guise of discussing a charity sponsorship. Money and reputation opened doors.
The headmaster greeted me warmly. She led me through colorful hallways filled with tiny chairs and finger paintings.
Then we entered the playroom.
And there she was.
Xingxing sat in the corner, building blocks. Her hair was in messy braids that looked like someone had tried their best but failed.
Jingchen. He must have done her hair.
Nearby, Xiaobei drew quietly at a small table. Serious. Focused.
"May I say hello?" I asked the headmaster.
"Of course."
I walked toward Xingxing slowly. She looked up and her face lit up.
"Pretty lady!" She ran to me, crashing into my legs. "You came back!"
I knelt down. Up close, I could see every detail. Jingchen's eyes. Jingchen's nose. But my chin. My lips. My birthmark.
"Hi, sweetheart."
"Can you fix my braids? Daddy tried but the other kids laughed."
My hands trembled as I took her hairbrush. I worked through the tangles gently. Loose strands wrapped around the brush.
My heart pounded.
I tucked them into my palm without being obvious.
Then I braided her hair properly. Two neat plaits.
"There. All done."
She ran to a mirror and gasped. "It's so pretty!"
Xiaobei appeared beside me. Those knowing eyes studied my face.
"Our mummy would have done it like that," he said quietly. "If she was here."
I couldn't hold back the tear that escaped.
He didn't say anything. He just looked at me with eyes that understood something neither of us was ready to speak.
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I left the kindergarten with Xingxing's hair hidden in my pocket.
Yebai was waiting in the car.
"Well?"
I showed him the strands.
"Good. Results in seventy-two hours."
Seventy-two hours.
Three days to find out if my children were alive.
Three days before everything exploded.
I looked out the window as we drove away.
Somewhere in that colorful building, two children were going about their day. Unaware that a woman who might be their mother had just held them for the first time in five years.
Xingxing's voice echoed in my head.
You came back.
Yes, baby. I did.
And if you're mine, I'm never leaving again.
- Writer
