Doctors said I didn’t make it out of the delivery room.

Open.

Slowly, agonizingly, my eyes fluttered open. The light was blinding. But I saw her.

“Oh my God,” Elena whispered. She hit the call button. “Dr. Martínez! Stat! Room 304! She’s awake!”

The next hour was a blur of tests, lights, and disbelief. They removed the tube. My throat felt like it had been scrubbed with sandpaper. My voice was a broken croak.

“Lucía,” Dr. Martínez said, shining a light in my eyes. “Blink twice if you understand me.”

I blinked twice.

“Can you speak?”

I swallowed, the pain searing. I needed to say one word. The only word that mattered.

“Babies.”

Dr. Martínez let out a breath he seemed to have been holding for a month. “They are safe. For now. But your husband… he has plans for tomorrow.”

“I know,” I rasped. My voice sounded like gravel, but it was steady. “I heard… everything.”

I looked at the doctor, and I saw the realization dawn on him. He realized I knew about the money. The dress. The sale of the twin.

“Get… a lawyer,” I whispered. “And… security.”