The next day, Nina said to Frank,
“Maybe… maybe we should keep her? No one will suspect anything. Everyone already thinks we got married because of the pregnancy and that the baby’s yours.”
Frank’s face twisted with anger.
“Are you serious right now, Nina? Have you lost your mind? You’ve barely recovered. You want to look at her every day and relive that day over and over? You’ll never be okay if she’s around. And I never agreed to raise this child. You’ll have to choose — me or her. And your father will be furious when he finds out you even suggested this.”
Nina’s throat tightened as she swallowed.
“You’re right… Of course you’re right, Frank,” she said quietly.
She had made her choice long ago.
That child was a painful reminder of the man whose name she couldn’t even pronounce in her thoughts.
How could it ever have crossed her mind to keep her?
Frank spoke to her softly back then, almost tenderly, as if he were coaxing a child.
“You know, sweetheart, I’m only thinking about you,” he said, taking Nina by the hand.“Besides, you were on antidepressants without knowing you were pregnant. The baby could be sick. Or mentally unstable, with that kind of genetic background. You’d torture yourself for the rest of your life.”
“But she doesn’t seem sick…” Nina whispered helplessly.
“That’sright now, Nina. For the sake of our own happiness, stop talking nonsense. I’ll take care of the paperwork today so the baby is officially relinquished for adoption. And I’ll ask them not to bring her to you anymore. You shouldn’t get attached.”
After that, everyone pitied them. People offered condolences, spoke words of comfort, mourned their“loss.” There was no need to pretend anymore. No need to force a smile. She could stop hiding her apathy, her emptiness, her depression. Everything was blamed on grief after losing a child.
Years passed.
Nina learned not to think about the past. Or rather, she forced herself not to. She slammed that chapter shut and pretended it had never existed. She convinced herself she’d done the right thing. That there had been no other choice.
But when she first held newborn Daphne in her arms… when she felt those tiny fingers curl around her own… when she heard her daughter’s first cry… she didn’t think about Daphne. She was thinking about the other girl.
The one she’d left behind.
Her first daughter.
Where was she?
What color were her eyes? Her hair? Did she sleep peacefully at night? Or did she cry in the dark, not understanding why she’d been abandoned?
That feeling turned into a nightmare.
At first, it was a dull unease. Then sharp regret. And finally, unbearable guilt.
How could she? How could she give her own daughter away? Abandon her like a stray kitten. There was no excuse. Not a single one. Not even the circumstances of the child’s conception justifiedsending her into foster care. Their family wasn’t poor. They could’ve found another solution. They could’ve found a way to keep her.
Nina searched for her. In secret from Frank and her parents, she kept going back to the hospital, trying to find even the smallest lead. But she didn’t even know where the baby had been sent. She didn’t know what her daughter looked like, and even if she’d seen her in foster care, she wouldn’t have recognized her.
When everything seemed hopeless, someone eventually suggested a private investigator. Leonard.
Nina remembered their first meeting clearly. He understood right away that she hadn’t come with something trivial.
“What do you need?” he asked.“Just so you know, I don’t deal with criminal stuff.”
She couldn’t answer right away. Her lips went dry, her breathing faltered. And then she said out loud what she would never have dared to say in front of her family.
“I’m… looking for a girl. A child.”
