His Twin Secrets: The Billionaire's Contract Baby

The diner floor was sticky. Elena's sneakers made a soft squeak every time she moved from the kitchen to her one occupied table, where a couple lingered over half-eaten waffles and lukewarm coffee. Her name badge rubbed against her shirt with each step, the cheap plastic swinging in rhythm with her hurried movements. She reached down to refill their mugs, and steam emerged from the saucepan, fogging her glasses. The smell of burnt toast and fryer oil lingered on her clothes, but she didn't notice it anymore. The routine numbed everything else.

She hadn't had a break in six hours.

The overhead light flickered. A baby wailed in one of the booths near the window. Someone shouted for extra ketchup. She kept moving.

The phone rang once, then again.

She didn't look up until someone called her name from the counter, loud and urgent.

"Elena! Phone!"

Her heart plummeted.

Nobody called the diner. Not for good news.

She blinked and rushed to the register. Still wet from cleaning a table, her hands slid a little as she reached for the cordless. In her ears, her pulse thudded.

She tried to seem calm as she said, "Hello?"

"Miss Moore? This is Miss Garvey from Hudson Park Academy. There was a fire drill this morning. Lily's safe, but she wandered off and gave us quite a scare. Could you come in?"

Elena's knees almost gave out.

"She what?" she said, gripping the phone even more tightly.

"She's fine now," the voice repeated gently. "We found her... with another student. But school policy requires a parent to be present when there's a safety breach."

"I'm coming," Elena said, her words coming out too quickly, "I'll be there right away."

She didn't remember getting her purse or leaving the diner; one moment she was behind the counter, and the next she was slamming the car door, her breath fogging up the windshield. Elena was already tearing off her apron, fingers fumbling the knot. The engine coughed twice before starting.

She sped down Main Street, barely noticing the changing lights. Her mind was full of what-ifs, every thought spiraling back to her daughter.

Please let her be okay.

Please let it be nothing.

She held on to the wheel until her fingers hurt.

With its white-brick walls, wrought-iron gates, and polished stone steps that glittered in the morning sun, Hudson Park Academy appeared like a fortress.

If it hadn't been for Lily's full scholarship, they never would have stepped inside.

She parked half on the curb, barely noticing. Before the engine even turned off, her feet touched the ground.

The lobby smelled of fresh paint and eucalyptus. A receptionist behind a clean white desk hardly looked up as marble tile stretched in all directions.

"Elena Moore?" the woman asked coolly.

Elena nodded, breath catching. Her hair was a mess, her shirt stained with syrup. She felt out of place. Invisible.

"Miss Garvey will meet you in the courtyard."

She pushed through the double doors and into the blinding sun.

The courtyard stretched in a perfect square-flowering hedges, clean gravel paths, and a playground straight out of a dream. No rust, no chipped paint. Just safety. Order. Wealth.

She barely took it in. Her eyes were scanning, searching

And then she saw her.

Lily.

Standing near the sandbox, her hands clutched together, braid slipping out of its elastic. Her small face twisted with emotion the moment their eyes met.

"Mommy!"

Elena didn't think. She ran. Across the courtyard, past a cluster of whispering teachers. She dropped to her knees as Lily threw herself forward.

"Sweetheart, oh my God are you hurt?" Elena's arms locked around her. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Lily buried her face in her mother's shoulder and held on. "I'm okay," she whispered. "I wasn't scared. I just wanted to find him."

Elena leaned back, confused. "Find who?"

A small voice behind her answered.

"Me."

She turned and froze.

A little boy stood a few feet away. Same size as Lily. Same build. Sandy blond hair curled over his ears, and his blue eyes. Those eyes watched her with steady interest. Not fear. Not confusion.

Recognition.

Elena's breath caught. Her whole body went still.

It wasn't just a resemblance.

It wasn't just that he looked like Lily.

It was more than that.

He was Lily.

Or some version of her.

Every feature was mirrored. Every bone structure, every angle. Only subtle differences, slightly broader brows, a sharper jawline in miniature. His posture. His stillness.

It was impossible.

"Elena Moore?" a woman said from behind, clipboard in hand. "This is the boy Lily was found with. They were hiding behind the auditorium. Holding hands. Wouldn't come out until we let them stay together."

Elena couldn't speak. Her lips parted, but the words wouldn't form.

She stared at him.

Lily tugged on her sleeve. "Mommy," she whispered, "he has my face."

Elena swallowed hard.

The clipboard shuffled. "His name is Caleb Blackwell."

And just like that, the air left her lungs.

Blackwell.

The name landed like a stone in the very center of her chest.

She knew that name.

Knew it like a scar.

She'd seen it written across a manila folder. One she was never meant to keep. It was stamped on the front of a file she had buried in the back of her closet. The name that went with a photograph. A baby. Wrapped in a blue blanket. Eyes closed. Lips slightly parted.

A baby they told her hadn't survived.

Her body went numb.

She looked again at the boy. At Caleb and everything inside her screamed.

He was alive.

He hadn't died.

He was standing in front of her, flesh and blood, and breathing. Watching her.

Her hands trembled. She pressed them against Lily's back, needing to feel something solid.

The world tilted.

"Elena?" one of the teachers asked, stepping closer. "Are you all right?"

She didn't answer.

Because nothing was all right.

Not anymore.