On my daughter’s birthday, I showed up at her after-school program unannounced to surprise her.

When I mentioned to the instructor that I was Maddie’s parent, she furrowed her brows.

“Are you saying that you’re Maddie’s mother?”

I nodded, feeling a little displeased.

Though her father, Matthew Rowe handled the drop-offs and pick-ups, the instructor had no business giving me an attitude.

Nevertheless, the instructor promised to bring Maddie out right away with a huge grin.

As she turned away, I decided not to make a big fuss out of the matter.

The next minute, the instructor emerged with two burly men.

“That’s her! She’s here to abduct one of the kids!”

Two security guards in blue uniforms trailed right behind Victoria Pearson, the after-school program’s instructor.

With her smile no more, Victoria pointed her finger at me furiously. “Get her! This woman is posing as a parent to kidnap one of our kids! Talk about audacity!”

I froze on the spot, my mind going blank.

Kidnap? Posing as a parent? What on earth was the lady talking about?

Before reality sank in, the two security guards pounced on me and restrained my arms.

As a sharp pain shot through me, I let out a cry of agony.

“What are you doing? Let me go!”

I put up a fight. “I’m not a kidnapper! This is a mistake! Unhand me!”

“A mistake?”

The instructor lunged forward and said in disgust, “Who are you kidding?”

The commotion caught the attention of other instructors in the office and corridor.

They poked their heads out, their chatters ringing in my ear.

“What’s going on?”

“Apparently, she’s a kidnapper.”

“Oh, my goodness! She has some nerve to come to the school.”

“I’m glad that she’s caught. There’s a place in hell for the likes of her!”

“She definitely looks the part of a criminal.”

The hostile gazes cut through me like a knife.

“I’m not a kidnapper! I’m Maddie Rowe’s mother! Just get her out here if you don’t believe me. She’ll tell you who I am.”

“Maddie Rowe?” Victoria sneered.

“You certainly have done your homework. You can even name one of our kids. It’s a shame that you’re silly enough to pose as her mother!”

She turned to the crowd of instructors. “Hear that? She knows the child’s name. Doesn’t that sound like a prepared predator?”

“No! Maddie is honestly my daughter!”

In the heat of the moment, I recalled the photos with my daughter stored in my phone.

“I have pictures! I have pictures of Maddie and me together.” I squirmed my arm free and unlocked my mobile phone before pulling up the most recent photo in my camera roll.

It was a shot of Maddie and me in the park last weekend.

Wearing a pale-yellow jacket, Maddie had her arms clung around the nape of my neck while I affectionately pressed my cheeks against hers.

“Look! This was taken last week!”

After a brief silence, Victoria inched closer for a look before letting out a scoff. “Impressive setup. If only the photo were the right one.”

The other instructors broke out in laughter.

“Tsk. She’s not the brightest bulb…”

“Do kidnappers even try anymore?”

“It looks like she just lifts someone else’s photo.”

That was impossible.

I jerked my head down, my gaze fixed on the enlarged photo on the screen.

This was my daughter, Maddie, for sure.

The head of security barked, “Don’t waste your breath with her. Take her down to the precinct!”

Before security yanked me away, I broke free with all my strength and dashed into the classroom.

The door to the classroom flung open, and the children lifted their heads at the loud bang and stared at me, all confused.

“Maddie!”

I shouted my daughter’s name as my eyes roamed around the room for her.

A young girl rose to her feet.

Tilting her head, the girl looked bewildered and asked in confusion, “Why are you looking for me, ma’am?”

I was stunned to see the face.

How could a mother possibly fail to recognize her own daughter?

Not one to give up just yet, I scanned the room of unfamiliar faces for Maddie, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Jesus! Just drop the act already!”

Seeing red, the head of security kicked me down.

Everything went black for a second as I buckled forward, smacking headfirst on the cold floor.

The head of security ran his mouth viciously. “Stay down, you filthy kidnapper!”

Fighting through the agony and dizzy spell, I cried out with all my might, “Where’s my daughter? Where’s Maddie? What did you do to my daughter?”

With her hands on her waist, Victoria looked down at me and spat near my feet. “Ptooey!

“What have we done?”

She let out a sneer. “We have one Maddie Rowe enrolled in our program.”

I was dumbstruck.

It was impossible.

“I chose this program for my child. I watched my husband take Maddie out the door to attend her first day here. You can’t treat me like an idiot just because I wasn’t here in person.”

“Tsk. You just won’t quit.”

Victoria shook her head, her expression nothing short of disdain. “Are you still keeping up with the act? You can save your stories for the police.”

Rolling her eyes, Victoria then approached the kids. “Remember this face. She’s a kidnapper.”

The kids looked at me warily.

Unable to stand the accusation, I cried out my husband’s name. “Matthew Rowe! My husband’s Matthew Rowe! He took Maddie here for her enrollment. You can check the register.”

Victoria was taken aback.

I was renewed with a glimmer of hope, thinking that Victoria had caught on to the misunderstanding. Maybe there was another child in the after-school program with the same name.

However, it didn’t take long for Victoria to squish my hope.

“Oh, you even managed to dig up Maddie’s father’s name. How did you get the kid wrong then?”

Pulling the earlier child into her arms, Victoria stared me down. “This is Mr. Rowe’s child.”

I was in disbelief.

Victoria bent over and spoke to the girl tenderly. “Maddie, tell the kidnapper who your father is.”

The girl recoiled into Victoria’s embrace, her eyes watching me timidly, before uttering, “Matthew Rowe.”

Matthew was my husband. Yet, a strange girl claimed him to be her father.

“No! You’re lying!”

Teetering on the brink of an outburst, I lunged toward the girl.

“Who are you? Who on earth are you? Why are you calling Matthew your father?”

Startled, the girl latched onto Victoria.

“Shut up!”

Victoria reprimanded, “You’re scaring her! Security! Take her away!”

“What are you doing?”

A shrill voice, belonging to a woman, pierced through the air, and before I knew it, I was slapped across the face.

The sheer blow snapped my head to the side, and my cheek swelled up.

The posh woman, looking to be in her thirties, wore flawless makeup and a tailored suit, her brand-new handbag swinging in her hand as she angrily pointed at me.

“How dare you threaten my daughter, you psycho!”

“Who the hell are you?” Taking in the blow, I glared at her.

“You have no right to hit me! Who are you to Matthew? Enlighten me!”

“Who am I?” The woman paused at my grilling.

Before long, she raised her voice. “Matthew is my husband. I’m married to him!”

Victoria stirred the pot from the sidelines. “There you are, Maddie’s Mom. The kidnapper managed to get her hands on Maddie and your husband’s information. I’m sure she’s up to no good.”

The woman, Cassandra Rowe, put on a menacing look. “You filthy kidnapper! You have some nerve to grab my daughter!”

The murmurs erupted.

“I can’t believe how manipulative the kidnapper is. She even made up a whole narrative!”

“Call the cops now! She needs to be arrested!”

“The kids are frightened. She’s a monster!”

I screamed in defense, “I’m not a kidnapper! I’m here to take my daughter home. Matthew is my husband!”

Cassandra looked at me as if I were a joke before taking out her phone to dial a number.

The call was connected right away.

“Babe!”

Cassandra, unlike her aggressive self a moment ago, sounded hurt.

“Come to Maddie’s school at once. There’s a kidnapper here, insisting that Maddie is her daughter. She even attacked me and called me a homewrecker!

“She’s trying to take Maddie, and security can’t hold her down. She’s terrifying! Come quick, babe! Maddie and I are scared…”

Once the call ended, Cassandra dropped the damsel in distress act before her tears even dried. She gave me a look of contempt.

“Just you wait, psycho. Matt will be here in no time. He’ll deal with you.”

Rage shook me to the very core.

Oh, perfect timing. Matthew was just the person I wanted to see as well.

It didn’t take long before a luxury sedan pulled up outside the school.

“Wow!

“The car must cost tens of millions of dollars!”

“I didn’t know Maddie’s dad was loaded.”

Gasps burst within the crowd.

Matthew, my husband, stepped out of the car, looking every bit a successful businessman.

“Babe!”

Cassandra jumped into Matthew’s arms, all teary-eyed. “There you are! I’m so scared. The crazy woman attacked me and tried to steal Maddie away. Sob, sob…”

The girl with my daughter’s name scampered over. “Daddy! The strange lady burst into the room and gave me a mean look! She screamed at me! I’m terrified! Keep me safe, Daddy!”

Pulling Cassandra close, Matthew ran his fingers along the young girl’s hair with his free hand. “There, there. I’m here now. Everything’s okay. I’m sorry my girls have to go through that.”

He patted Cassandra’s back while leaning in to speak to the girl tenderly, “It’s alright, Mads. I’m here. No one can lay a finger on you or your mother on my watch.”

Matthew scanned the room, his eyes icy. “I want to know who has the audacity to come here and terrorize my family.”

His antics sent the crowd into a frenzy, and their gaze shifted between him and me.

Everyone was watching, eager to see how the great Matthew would put me, a supposed brazen kidnapper, in my place.

After offering his wife and kid assurances, Matthew looked up, his gaze falling on me, who was pinned down by security.

The moment our eyes locked, Matthew’s eyes widened, and his facial muscles went stiff.

I stared straight into his eyes.

‘Go on, Matt. Carry on with your act and show me how you plan on putting on your legal wife.’

Before long, Matthew nudged Cassandra away. Standing in defense of Cassandra and their daughter, he confronted me from a few steps away. “What do you want?”

The crowd fell silent, their eyes fixating on us.

“What do I want? Matthew, what on earth is going on? Where is my daughter? Where’s Maddie?”

Stunned, the crowd shifted their eyes between Matthew and me.

Matthew grimaced. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What do you mean by your daughter? Maddie is here. I think you’re delusional.”

I snapped at his blatant lie.

Smack!

I struck Matthew right in his hypocritical face.

A wave of shock spread across the room. Cassandra, pausing from her fake whimpers, stared at me in disbelief.

“Matthew!”

I yelled, my finger right up his face, “Drop the act. Where is my daughter?”

Matthew’s face turned red.

Before anyone could catch on to the situation, he lunged forward and grabbed me by the throat.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. If this is about money, I can pay you, but leave my family alone!”

Putting on a hushed tone, Matthew whispered in my ear, “Andrea Cummingham, you’d better play along, or say goodbye to Maddie forever.”

I looked at him in shock.

To think my husband would threaten me with my daughter’s life.