Chapter 1

My daughter was born prematurely and immediately sent to the incubator.

Finally, the day came to bring her home from the hospital. I practically threw myself forward, clutching my daughter tightly in my arms.

But the next second, I froze completely.

The Blood Guanyin pendant around my neck—it hadn't turned red?

This was a gift from the Miao teacher at the orphanage, given to each of us orphans.

She said the jade was sealed with our blood and a type of Miao blood parasite.

Once blood relatives came near, the parasite would come alive and the pendant would turn blood red.

But now, with my daughter in my arms, it didn't move at all.

My head spun and I nearly dropped the baby.

If this child in my arms wasn't my daughter,

then where was the baby I'd carried for ten months and labored for fourteen hours to deliver?

My face went deathly pale, my whole body trembling uncontrollably.

My husband Ethan thought I was just overcome with emotion and came over with a smile:

"Our daughter is finally discharged. You don't have to worry anymore."

I grabbed his arm desperately, my voice shaking:

"Ethan, this isn't our daughter. Look at her face—she doesn't look like either of us at all!"

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders with a laugh:

"Rain, you're just too anxious! All newborns look pretty much the same. How can you tell who they look like?"

"I took this baby directly from the nurse's hands. There's no way it's wrong."

"But..."

Cold sweat trickled down my forehead.

I suddenly pulled open the baby's swaddling, turned her body over, and with trembling fingers examined every inch of her skin.

No birthmark.

Her bottom was completely clean. Nothing there.

My mind exploded with a buzz.

"Our daughter has a red plum blossom birthmark on her bottom. After delivery, the nurse specifically showed it to me!"

I was practically screaming:

"This baby doesn't have it. She's not our daughter!"

Ethan's smile instantly froze.

He looked at the baby again, his face turning white as paper.

Two people with double eyelids—how could we possibly have a baby with single eyelids?

Without another question, he immediately grabbed the baby and rushed out, driving straight to the hospital.

I wanted to chase after them, but the C-section incision on my belly suddenly tore open. The pain made it impossible to move.

I collapsed on the floor, imagining what might have happened to my daughter.

Switched at birth, kidnapped by traffickers, sold to a place I'd never find...

The tears wouldn't stop.

I desperately called my husband, but couldn't get through.

Time crawled by, second by second.

Just as I finally managed to drag myself to the door, it suddenly opened.

My husband was holding another baby, his face full of smiles:

"Honey, I brought our daughter back!"

"The hospital made a mistake. There were two babies in the NICU, and another baby's father has the same name as me. The nurse grabbed the wrong one. Thank God you noticed!"

I broke into tears of relief and immediately took the baby.

The tiny face was about fifty percent similar to mine.

Half of my anxiety finally settled.

The birthmark was there too.

Tears fell again. What a blessing!

My daughter was finally back.

But then,

my hand suddenly froze.

The pendant on my chest still hadn't turned red.

This baby wasn't my daughter either?!

My heart churned uneasily. I forced myself to calm down, my gaze slowly moving to Ethan's face.

"Are you sure," I asked, word by word,

"this is our daughter?"

He gently took my hand and pulled a document from his bag, his tone certain:

"Of course. This time I did a paternity test with our daughter. Look—confirmed father-daughter relationship."

Those words were printed clearly on the white paper.

But my heart felt like it was being squeezed by a hand, tightening more and more.

If the baby was my husband's, why hadn't the pendant turned red?

Unless this DNA paternity test was fake.

Or this baby wasn't the one I gave birth to.