Nancy’s life was turned upside down at her husband Patrick’s funeral. As she stood near the cemetery’s exit, trying to process the loss of her husband in a tragic car accident, an older woman carrying a baby suddenly blocked her path. The woman’s revelation would soon shake Nancy’s world even more.

“Are you Nancy?” the woman asked, her voice steady despite the crying baby in her arms.

Nancy didn’t recognize the woman. “I am. Who are you?” she asked, her curiosity mixed with the heavy grief she was already carrying.

The woman introduced herself as Amanda and claimed that the baby she held was Patrick’s child. “Only you can take care of this child now,” Amanda said, her words cutting through Nancy like a knife. “Her mother can’t provide for her.”

Nancy’s heart raced as she stared at the baby, her mind reeling. “No, it can’t be! Patrick was a loving husband. He would never do this to me!” she exclaimed, backing away in disbelief.

Shaken, Nancy turned and hurried away, her mind flooded with conflicting emotions. As she made her way to her car, she nearly collided with one of Patrick’s old friends, Mike, who was there to offer his condolences. Distracted and lost in thought, Nancy quickly ended the conversation and continued to her car.

But when she opened the car door, Nancy was in for another shock—the same baby was lying in her back seat, crying softly. Amanda was nowhere to be seen. Bewildered, Nancy wrapped the baby in her jacket to keep her warm, only to notice something chilling: a birthmark on the baby’s neck, identical to Patrick’s.

“This can’t be happening,” Nancy muttered to herself. But the evidence was there, and she needed answers. She needed to know if her husband had been unfaithful.

Determined, Nancy drove home with the baby and collected some of Patrick’s hair from his hairbrush. She headed straight to the hospital and requested a paternity test.

“I’d like to get a paternity test done as soon as possible,” Nancy told the receptionist.

The receptionist explained that it typically took a few days to get the results, but Nancy was desperate. “Is there any way to expedite it? I’ll pay extra,” she insisted.

The receptionist agreed to expedite the process, but it came at a higher cost. Nancy didn’t care; she needed the truth. She submitted Patrick’s sample and waited in the hospital hallway, feeding the baby as she anxiously awaited the results.

Finally, a nurse approached her with an envelope containing the test results. Nancy’s hands trembled as she opened it, dreading what she might find. The words on the page confirmed her worst fears: “Paternity rate – 99%.”

Tears welled up in Nancy’s eyes as she looked down at the sleeping baby. Patrick had cheated on her, and now, she was left to deal with the consequences.

Nancy made a decision. She couldn’t keep the child as a reminder of Patrick’s betrayal. She had to find the baby’s mother and return the child to her.

Back at home, Nancy began searching through Patrick’s belongings, hoping to find something that would lead her to his lover. She searched his office, his drawers, and even his car, but found nothing until her eyes landed on the GPS. Patrick always relied on the GPS because he was terrible with directions. If he had visited his mistress, the address would likely be in the GPS history.

Nancy scrolled through the recent destinations and found an address that appeared more frequently than the others—one she didn’t recognize. “This has to be it,” she thought, as she packed the baby into the car and drove to the address.

When she arrived, Nancy found herself in front of a modest house. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Determined, she went to the neighboring house and rang the doorbell. To her surprise, Amanda answered.

“You?” Nancy asked, shocked to see her again. “How did you find me?” Amanda stammered, clearly surprised.

“I was trying to find my husband’s…his other woman,” Nancy admitted. “I wanted to return her baby.”

Amanda’s face fell, and she revealed that the woman who lived next door, named Emma, had died a few days ago from a heart attack upon learning about Patrick’s accident.

“Emma? Did you say her name was Emma?” Nancy asked, her voice trembling.

“Yes,” Amanda confirmed. “Did you know her?”

“Was her last name Warren?” Nancy asked, feeling a pang of recognition.

When Amanda nodded, Nancy felt a wave of shame wash over her. “Emma was my classmate,” Nancy explained. “We were friends, but I wronged her and Patrick.”

Nancy recounted a painful memory from 20 years ago. She and Patrick had dated in high school, but Patrick had fallen in love with Emma. Devastated by the breakup, Nancy sought revenge. She lied to Patrick, claiming she was pregnant, which led him to break things off with Emma and stay with Nancy. But the pregnancy was a lie, one that Nancy eventually confessed to Patrick after Emma had moved away, heartbroken.

“I used him, lied to him, and ruined everything,” Nancy admitted to Amanda. “Patrick never knew the truth. But now I know that he went back to Emma, and they had this child together.”

Nancy decided that it was time to make amends. She turned to leave Amanda’s house, but Amanda stopped her.

“What are you going to do with the baby?” Amanda asked.

Nancy turned and smiled sadly. “I’ll raise her as my own. Maybe that’s how I can seek forgiveness from Patrick and Emma.”

And that’s exactly what Nancy did. She raised the baby, named Catherine, with all the love she had. When Catherine turned 16, Nancy told her the truth about her past, expecting Catherine to hate her. But instead, Catherine smiled and said, “Nothing changes how I feel about you, Mom. You raised me. You’re my mom in every way that counts.”

Nancy cried as she hugged her daughter, feeling that, at last, she had found a way to atone for the mistakes of her past.