Nancy’s life takes a sudden turn at her husband’s funeral when she encounters an older woman holding a baby. The woman claims the child is Nancy’s late husband’s daughter. Is she lying? Or does Nancy have more chilling revelations ahead?
Nancy gazed at the last remnants of her husband’s funeral. She couldn’t believe Patrick was gone. He had died in a car accident. A week had passed, but she still felt his presence around her. How could he be dead?
With a heavy heart, she headed toward the cemetery exit, telling herself she had to start figuring out the rest of her life.
Suddenly, an older woman holding a baby blocked her path.
“Are you Nancy?” the woman asked, as the baby in her arms cried.
Nancy didn’t recognize her. Who was she?
“Yes. Who are you?” Nancy replied.
Image for illustrative purposes | Photo: Shutterstock
Nancy’s heart wasn’t prepared when the woman, Amanda, revealed that the baby she was holding was Patrick’s daughter.
“Now only you can take care of this girl,” Amanda told Nancy. “Her mother can’t keep her.”
A chill ran down Nancy’s spine. She stared at the baby and stepped back.
“No, it can’t be! Patrick was a loving husband. He would never do this to me.”
Read also: Dog barks at coffin during funeral, son suspects, opens it and finds it empty – Story of the day
Nancy turned and walked away. She would never doubt Patrick.
Nancy bumped into one of Patrick’s old friends, Mike. She was too lost in thought to notice where she was going.
Mike started chatting with her, offering his condolences. Nancy didn’t want to talk to anyone but had to be polite. She ended the conversation as soon as she could and headed to her car.
Image for illustrative purposes | Photo: Shutterstock
Thoughts about the baby kept replaying in her mind, but she pushed them aside. However, when she opened her car door, Nancy was startled. The same baby lay crying in the back seat.
Nancy looked around. Amanda was nowhere to be seen. “How did this baby get here?” she wondered.
It was cold, so Nancy took off her jacket and began wrapping the little one in it.
But she froze when she saw a birthmark on the baby’s neck. “It can’t be,” she murmured.
The birthmark was exactly like Patrick’s. Nancy didn’t want to suspect that her late husband had cheated on her. But now she needed the truth. She needed to know if Patrick had been unfaithful.
Nancy drove home with the baby, grabbed some strands of Patrick’s hair from his brush, and went to a hospital.
Image for illustrative purposes | Photo: Shutterstock
“Hello, I would like to do a paternity test,” she told the receptionist at the desk.
“Okay, ma’am. Results usually take a few days,” the woman said.
“Can it be done faster?” Nancy asked. “I’ll pay extra.”
“Well, we have expedited service. Let me see what I can do. But it will cost more.”
“I’ll take it,” Nancy answered. She sent Patrick’s samples and paid for the test.
Sitting in the hallway, she waited for the results when the baby started crying. Nancy sniffed the baby’s clothes. The diaper didn’t need changing.
Nancy guessed she must be hungry. There was still time before the results came, so she went to a supermarket and bought formula, bottles, and some diapers just in case.
She returned to the hallway and sat there, feeding the baby formula. After what seemed like an eternity, a nurse approached her with the results.
The woman handed her an envelope and left.
Image for illustrative purposes | Photo: Unsplash
“This is the truth, and I’ll have to accept it whether I like it or not,” Nancy thought as she opened the results.
Her head spun when she read the words: “Paternity probability: 99%.”
Nancy looked at the sleeping baby in her arms and swallowed the tears in her eyes. Patrick had cheated on her and had kept everything from her.
Nancy decided she wouldn’t live forever with the proof of his infidelity. She would find the baby’s mother and return her.
She composed herself, drove home, and began searching through Patrick’s things. But she found nothing that could point to his mistress. Then she went to his office and searched drawers, folders, and cabinets. But nothing.
Nancy sighed. The baby was asleep in the living room. She took the baby monitor and headed to Patrick’s car. She searched under the seats, in the glove box, and all the nooks of the vehicle. But she found nothing significant.
Image for illustrative purposes | Photo: Shutterstock
Nancy slumped in the driver’s seat when her eyes landed on the GPS. Then she realized something. Patrick was terrible with directions and always used the navigator. If he had ever visited his lover’s house, she would find the address there.
Nancy went straight to the recent destinations on the GPS. The list wasn’t long; most were familiar places: local restaurants, the hardware store, and Patrick’s office. But then one address caught her eye: it appeared more often than the others, and she didn’t recognize it.
“This is it,” she thought. She grabbed the baby and drove to the address.
When she arrived, Nancy found herself in front of a modest house. She held the baby in her arms, walked to the door, and knocked.
“Hello? Is anyone home?” she asked.
After knocking ten times and no one answering, Nancy concluded the house was empty. She looked around and decided to check with the neighbors. She started at the house next door and rang the doorbell.
The door creaked open, and Nancy’s eyes widened when Amanda came out.
“Is that you?” Nancy asked.
“How… how did you find me?” Amanda stammered.
Illustrative image | Photo: Shutterstock
“I was trying to find the…” Nancy paused. “…Another woman of my husband’s. I wanted to return her baby.”
A strange sadness appeared on Amanda’s face. “The woman who lived next door… died a few days ago. She had a heart attack when she heard about your husband’s accident. Emma is no longer here.”
“Wait… did you say Emma?” Nancy asked, surprised.
“Yes,” Amanda nodded. “Did you know her?”
“Was her last name… Warren?”
When Amanda nodded, Nancy lowered her head in shame. “Can I come in?” she asked. “There’s something I’d like to tell you. I think it would help me to talk.”
Amanda opened the door wider and Nancy entered. They settled in the living room.
“Emma was my classmate,” Nancy began to recount her past. “She was also my friend. But I wronged her and… Patrick…”
Nancy and Patrick were in the hallway of their high school. She was standing by her locker when Patrick approached her.
Illustrative image | Photo: Shutterstock
“Hi, Nancy,” he said quietly, and she looked at him.
“I… need to tell you something,” Patrick added anxiously.
“Hi,” she smiled. “Yes?”
“I… I’m in love with someone else, Nancy,” he confessed. “I know you’ve been very kind and all, but I’m sorry.”
Nancy was stunned. “Tell me this is a joke, Patrick,” she shouted. “You can’t be serious!”
But Patrick was serious. Patrick was madly in love with Emma, and Emma loved him too.
Illustrative image | Photo: Shutterstock
Nancy was so upset that day she went home crying.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” Her mother immediately sensed something had happened at school.
Nancy sobbed as she told her how Patrick had broken up with her.
“I want them to break up!” she shouted. “I won’t let them be together!”
“Nancy, you won’t be able to create your own happiness by destroying someone else’s,” her mother advised. “Revenge is never an option. Forget him.”
But Nancy was full of revenge.
Illustrative image | Photo: Shutterstock
In the following days, Nancy did everything she could to separate Patrick and Emma: she spread absurd rumors, planned chance encounters where she would flaunt her new confidence, and even stooped to sending anonymous notes to provoke jealousy.
However, nothing worked. Emma seemed happy, wrapped up in her world and Patrick’s, and Nancy was left outside, with her plans crumbling uselessly around her.
But Nancy was not one to give up. One night, she had the perfect idea to create a rift between Emma and Patrick.
“Hi, Nancy, how are you?” Nancy visited Patrick, and his mother answered the door.
“I’m fine, Mrs. White. Is Patrick home?”
“Yes, dear. Let me get him.”
Patrick was confused to see her at his door. “Nancy? What’s wrong?”
“I know this will surprise you, Patrick, but… I’m pregnant!” she announced.
Illustrative image | Photo: Shutterstock
Patrick was stunned and terrified. “What… but… are you sure?”
When she nodded, Patrick invited her in. She told him she hadn’t told her parents yet because she was scared. Nancy said her father would oppose it and force her to have an abortion. So she begged Patrick not to tell anyone, and she realized how easily he fell for her lie.
Patrick was a responsible guy. Nancy knew that. She took his hands and said, “I’m the father of the child, so I’ll take responsibility for our baby. And yes, don’t worry; this will stay between us.”
“I used him. I lied to him. I wasn’t pregnant,” Nancy told Amanda. “I was hurt and couldn’t bear to lose him because of Emma. So I told a lie that changed everything. He was willing to step up, leave Emma, and be… a father.”
“Lies ruin everything, dear,” Amanda shook her head. “And what happened next? Did he never find out the truth?”
Illustrative image | Photo: Shutterstock
“He didn’t,” Nancy revealed. “I kept pretending, with morning sickness and everything. But after a couple of months, I… couldn’t keep it up. So I told him there was a mistake in the test and that the doctor was wrong. By then, Emma had moved away. She had a broken heart and had left town with her parents. Patrick and I stayed together. He never went back to her, never tried to find her. We just moved on. Or pretended to…” Nancy added, looking at the sleeping baby in her arms. Now she knew Patrick had gone back to Emma.
“And I guess it’s time to fix what I couldn’t back then,” Nancy said, standing up.
She was about to leave Amanda’s house with the baby when the older woman stopped her.
“What are you going to do with the baby?” Amanda asked.
Nancy turned and smiled at Amanda. “I’ll raise her as my own daughter. Maybe that will help me find forgiveness—from Patrick and Emma.”
Illustrative image | Photo: Shutterstock
And Nancy kept her word. She raised little Catherine with love. When Catherine turned 16, Nancy told her everything about her past. She expected Catherine to hate her. She was ready for it.
But Catherine smiled and said, “Nothing changes how I feel about you, Mom. You raised me. You were there for every scraped knee, every fever, every heartbreak. You are my mother in every way that matters.”
You might also like: After her husband’s funeral, Betty receives a call from a man: “Bet, I’m here! I love you!” – Story of the Day
Nancy cried silently and hugged her daughter. Catherine’s words not only eased her heart but also made her believe that Emma and Patrick had forgiven her.
Tell us what you think about this story and share it with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
