ThE TWINS DILEMMA

5

After her unofficial transaction with the nurse who helped her Ms Isabel ensured to break off all contact with her and erased all possible traces. Before she did that, she asked the nurse to help her obtain a doctored birth certificate dated three months later than the baby's actual birthday. She didn't want to leave any stone unturned in making her action untraceable. She decided to focus on raising her foster child like her biological child by giving her the best life possible. She didn't have to grow up suspecting anything. She named her Mia after the first few weeks.

She hired a nanny before the baby came so there was a nanny on standby who received Mia into the house and restarted taking care of her from that point. As Mia grew up in an affluent household, she was surrounded by luxury. Ms Isabel was a business tycoon who owned several multimillion-dollar businesses in the food and textile industries. Although Ms Isabel was known to be strict, she didn't joke with Mia's comfort. She ensured she was provided with everything she needed, she just had to ask for it.

Everyone in the neighborhood knew there was something mysterious about Ms Isabel's new baby but nobody dared to talk. Some people had to dismiss the idea saying that she must have adopted her. Mia's sudden existence remained a mystery to them as they all didn't know the truth and nobody was willing to face any inconvenience from Ms Isabel, should she find out that they were prying into her life.

However, the neighbors equally hoped that with the arrival of her new baby, Ms Isabel would become a different person. She was always known to be cantankerous towards all and sundry. She had no friends in the neighborhood and would always fall out with the few who tried to come close to her. The only reasonable human attraction she has is with her domestic staff. Sometime in the past,, she had hit her staff and the staff quit the job instantly but only changed her mind when Ms Isabel offered her some monetary compensation. She always had her way out with money.

A few weeks after the arrival of her baby, some things about Isabel's personality truly started to change. Her new role as a mother brought out the soft part of her that people hardly see. Despite having a nanny, she was actively involved in the life of her foster daughter. She always made out time from her busy schedule to bond with her and be present to her. When it was time for Mia's naming ceremony, Ms Isabel went overboard to ensure she made it the talk of the town.

People who hadn't gotten to see the baby since birth were anxiously anticipating to see what the baby looked like. Her colleagues especially, wanted to see if they could trace the father of the baby or decipher who the baby looked like. They knew the man Isabel was seeing prior to the birth of the baby, although there was never a time she had gotten pregnant. After their ruthless speculation, just like Isabel's neighbors, they concluded that Mia was a product of abortion. Overall, they all admired how Isabel loved and treated Mia.

By the time Mia clocked fifteen months old, Isabel celebrated her daughter's first birthday in yet another grand style, leaving many tongues wagging at how lavishly she spent for the event. Having dated back her birth date by three months, she needed to do things that would create the right illusion about Mia's adopted birthday. So from the time of her first birthday, Mia automatically became three months younger than her real age.

Every other birthday, Isabel made sure to celebrate her daughter's new age in style. She pampered Mia so much that she kept procrastinating her schooling. Though reluctantly, she only entered preschool by the next fall preceding her 6th birthday. It was a new phase for Mia as she started mingling and socializing with other kids. Unfortunately, a few months after her 6th birthday which she had celebrated at school, Isabel had to withdraw Mia abruptly from the school. She hadn't expected what happened to Mia at school.