ATHENA

    Anna''s words hit me like a truck, and I feel like I''ve just been kicked in the chest. Air escapes my lungs in a wheeze. My hands curl into fists on the table, nails biting into my palms until it stings.

    "I thought she went abroad and gave birth a monthter than I did." My eyes are bloodshot red, and I can barely keep my voice steady.

    "There was no baby. As far as I know. I don''t know whose child they switched with, but Leah didn''t go anywhere. She''s been around the whole time, and they probably made the date a monthter to avoid suspicion. Maybe they feared Mr. King will notice a few things that show she''s guilty."

    "Why?" I whisper, barely able to breathe. "Why would she... do something so evil?"

    "I don''t know," Anna replies, her voice trembling now. "But she wasn''t alone. There were people helping her, people with influence. This wasn''t just about jealousy or revenge. I''m so sorry, Athena. I understand you''re angry and you''ll want to report me."

    Iugh.

    A cold hallow sound echoes through the empty diner as I look at Anna.

    "I trusted you. Yet you stabbed me in the back. You''re a mother. How would you feel if it was done to you?"

    "I''m a mother. That is why I did it. Wouldn''t you do anything if it meant protecting your child?"

    "So what changed? You felt a little guilty and showed up?"

    "No. My son and I have enough money to leave the country unseen. I just thought leaving without confessing-"

    "Cut the bullshit. Why did you really tell me the truth?"

    Anna flinches at my words, her hands trembling as she grips the edge of the table.

    There''s a beat of silence, heavy and suffocating.

    Then she exhales shakily, her voice barely a whisper.

    "Because me and my son are in danger."

    My blood turns to ice.

    So if they were still under protection, she would still have kept the truth and made me suffer after...

    "Did you also mess with the report?"

    "What report?"

    "The medical report where you said I tried to abort my child!"

    Anna shakes her head, "I don''t know anything about that. Please, listen to me. They''re tying up loose ends, Athena.

    Everyone who knows the truth. They tried toe after me. That''s why I''m running. But I couldn''t just disappear without telling you the truth."

    "You should have disappeared the second you handed over my baby like he was nothing!" I m my hand on the table, making her jump.

    "You should be rotting in a cell right now. But instead, you show up, acting like you''re doing me a favor?"

    Her mouth opens and closes, but I don''t give her the chance.

    "Athena, please-" Anna''s voice breaks. "I had no choice! My son, my only son. They threatened his life. I''m a mother too, please-"

    Iugh, but it''s cold, hollow, and stripped of warmth. My eyes bore into her, unblinking.

    "You want me to feel sorry for you?" I ask, my tone now deadly quiet. "You think hiding behind motherhood makes you less of a monster? Do you think your tears will erase what you did to me?"

    She goes silent, the shame on her face turning into terror.

    "I''m begging you, Athena. Please. I don''t want to die. I have nowhere else to go. They know I''m trying to leave. I-I need protection."

    I tilt my head slowly, a cold smile stretching across my face.

    "No one will protect you, Anna. You will face the consequences of what you''ve done. Send your son''s details. I will keep him safe because he doesn''t need to pay for his mother''s wicked ways!"

    I stand.

    My eyes burning in rage as I walk out. My steps are confident until I reach outside, where Zayan rushes to me as my legs give out from shock.

    "Athena!" He holds me up before inspecting me for any injuries. Once he sees I''m fine since i''m too stunned to utter a word, he lifts me and ces me in the car.

    "Did she hurt you?" His eyes search me.

    Once I shake my head, he nods.

    But doesn''t ask me any further questions.

    I immediately zone out as I start to process the news I just received.

    What do you do when you hear you were falsely used?

    You feel relief to be cleared.

    But not when you were used of killing your own child, denied seeing his face and fucking kicked out of the burial.

    Then you feel so much rage your heart boils you be a ticking time bomb. That''s nothing close to how I feel.

    I''m angry.

    I''m furious.

    The kind of fury that lives in your bones and screams through your bloodstream.

    My fists clench so tightly in myp that I feel my nails pierce skin. I don''t even flinch.

    She didn''t just help steal my child, she stole my motherhood, my dignity my right to grieve. And for what? So that the bitch Leah could y house with a baby that wasn''t hers?

    A baby that was mine?

    Is that why she was so freaked out when I offered to give him my blood?

    I guess she needs him to have Alex in her hands. That''s the card she''s been using.

    And Anna... Anna had the nerve to sit there, crying crocodile tears, begging for my protection like I''m some fucking savior?

    No. No, she doesn''t get to hide behind motherhood. Not after what she did to me.

    Not after letting me believe I was a murderer. Letting the world spit on my name while she tucked her own child safely into bed at night.

    I don''t care who''s chasing her.

    Let theme.

    Let them find her.

    Because whatever they do to her won''t even scratch the surface of what she deserves.

    But her son... I pause.

    A flicker of hesitation.

    He''s innocent. Just like my son was.

    He doesn''t deserve to be punished

    for her sins. I''ll keep my word, he''ll be protected. That''s the only part of

    this story where I''ll be merciful.

    Zayan''s hand brushes against mine on the console. I hadn''t even realized I was

    shaking.

    But one thing keeps nagging me.

    Who changed the reports if Anna w? She was the leadin

    was working

    midwife and doctor in close to

    the

    charge that

    day.

    But it doesn''t matter because I will find them all and rain hell on their parade.

    Right before I make Leah regret everying her eyes on my son.

    I''m a scorned mother.

    And that makes me the most dangerous kind!

    Come after me, my money Or my career but not my child.

    "Where are we going next?" Zayan asks.

    "The Kings Estate." I respond.

    Zayan looks at me, "This time? Do you have something to do there?"

    I nod.

    "Yes. Yes I do."