Leandro opened it. Nadine gasped. I screamed.
Inside was a small toe. Gwen’s. Wrapped in cloth, stained in blood.
I collapsed to the floor, my body wracked with sobs. “Gwen…” My baby.
And then Leandro’s phone buzzed. He played the video the kidnappers sent. Gwen’s tiny voice echoed through the speakers, muffled by her cries. “Mommy… mommy, help…”
The kidnapper’s voice followed, cold and merciless. “If you don’t send the money, she dies.”
My chest shattered, but before I could beg, Leandro scoffed. “That’s a huge amount. I won’t waste my money on this. Just let her be. When the kidnappers realize we don’t care, they’ll return her.”
I stared at him, horrified. “Leandro! That’s my child—”
But he only smirked, turning toward Nadine. “After all, I still have another child.” He wrapped an arm around her, protective, possessive, and walked her away like I was nothing.
There I sat, on the cold marble floor, my tears falling endlessly. Realizing in that moment the brutal truth—Leandro had replaced me completely. Nadine wasn’t a secret anymore. She was his future. His priority. His family.
And I? I was nothing.