The next morning felt heavy and gloomy. It was as if the sky saw what was about to happen. The Andersons didn’t say a word to each other as they drove to the hospital. For the first time in Jake’s life, he could actually hear the screeching of the car's tyres.

Inside the hospital, the air thickened with unease. Nurses moved briskly through the corridors, but to Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, time was moving slowly. Jake sat silently beside his parents, his eyes fixed on the tiled floor. His parents' argument replayed vividly in his mind. He only hoped that whatever it was that they were coming for, it would at least settle their differences. They gave their vitals, and we sat at the reception waiting for the results.

At long last, the doctor appeared, with a white envelope. His expression was unreadable.

“Mr. and Mrs. Anderson,” he began, “we’ve completed the DNA tests.”

Helen, feeling tense, reached out for her husband’s hand; he didn’t pull away, but his fingers were as cold as ice.The doctor continued, “The results here show that Maya shares no genetic relation to either of you, not Mrs. Anderson or Mr. Anderson.”For a moment, everyone went quiet; no one breathed. The words hung in the air like a fog, thick and suffocating everyone. For Mrs. Anderson, this actually cleared the fact that she was being accused of cheating by Mr. Anderson. But if Maya isn’t their child, how come they have her with them? “What did you just say?” Mr. Anderson asked, his voice trembling.

“I guess I have to repeat myself,” the doctor replied gently, “I am saying that Maya is not your biological daughter.”

Mrs. Anderson screamed, but no sound came out of her lips. Tears drew in her eyes, but she couldn’t let a single one drop. She hadn’t betrayed her husband, which was good but then she had just lost her child, her only daughter.

“So you mean she’s not ours,” she said,

“She flesh of our flesh,” Mr. Anderson said numbly, “nor blood of our blood.” Mr. Anderson said as his voice trembled, his mind started spinning. “Then whose child is she?” He asked

The doctor shook his head. “It’s possible there was a mix-up at birth. We can investigate it and check the hospital records from ten years ago.”

Ten years.

For ten long years, they had loved her as their own; they raised her and watched her laugh and grow with them, never suspecting that the little girl who called them Mom and Dad wasn’t theirs.

Mrs. Anderson broke down shortly, covering her face with her trembling hands, and she sobbed. “How could this happen? How did you all let this happen ?” she whispered through her sobs. “All this while, we thought she was ours in every way that mattered to us .”

Mr. Anderson wrapped his arms around her, trying to console her. His eyes were filled with tears, but He couldn’t show his emotions as a man. “We have to find the truth out and we will soon,” he said quietly. “But as for now, we can’t tell her anything not yet.” Everyone had forgotten Jake’s presence. Even he was trying to analyze what he had just heard. His princess wasn’t his princess? He’s not his sister? Then who is? He asked himself.

They all knew Maya was still lying in her hospital bed, fragile and unaware of what was happening, fighting to recover as soon as possible. Telling her now would only shatter her world and make her condition worse.

They promised to keep this a secret until they found out everything in detail.

As they left the hospital, Jake strolled behind, staring at the children playing near the entrance. His heart started to feel heavy with confusion . Maya wasn’t his sister; did this mean he had to find his actual sister now? Maya was a girl he had grown to protect. He played with her and watched her grow. And yet, one question burned silently in his mind, one that none of them could escape:

If Maya wasn’t and Anderson, then where was the real Anderson child, and is it a he or a she, and how will they find the child?

That evening, the entire house was cloaked with silence and tension, almost making the air suffocating. It was about to rain again, so the air smelled of storm and moisture. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson sat on the edge of their bed and called out for Jake. They sat there waiting for him and contemplated how Jake would take everything. When Jake finally entered their room, his expression was hard to read. He looked calm outside, but his eyes burned with rage and disappointment.

His father cleared his throat. “Jake, Jake, look at me,” he began softly, “we have something to talk to you about, and it’s essential.”

Jake’s eyes lit with some form of hope in them. “What now, you’ve found the actual Anderson ?”

His mother took an intense breath. “You know, we got the DNA results today, right?”

Jake frowned. “And what about it ?”

“You know she isn’t…” Mrs. Anderson said as her voice cracked. “You know Maya isn’t biologically ours, right? I know you heard it .”

For a moment, Jake just stared at them. Their words don’t make sense to him at all. When they did, they exploded in his ears. “So you are basically trying to tell me that she’s not fit enough to be in this house with us,” he snapped.

“Don’t talk like that, my son, we’ve agreed on this,” his mother pleaded, standing to reach for him.

Jake pulled away gently. “Does this mean she’s adopted? Doesn’t this mean Mom adopted her from somewhere to cover up for the fact that her actual child had died? Then that actually means she’s not one of us, right? She’s not an Anderson, and she’s not my sister! So we must treat her like we treat all non-Andersons.”

“Jake!” his mother shouted with her voice trembling. “Listen to me, Jake, regardless of what the tests say, she’s still your sister, if not by blood but by association. She’s still an Anderson. Blood alone isn’t what makes someone family, she added”

But Jake didn’t want to hear all that. His jaw tightened really hard with anger. He told his mom, regardless, that everyone would pretend to her. He wouldn’t pretend towards her; he would let her know her place as a Non-Anderson. And. Without another word, he turned and stormed out of their room, his footsteps echoing down the hall. His mom stood up to go after but his dad signaled her to let him go . “ let him go ?” Won’t you go and talk to your son to calm down? “ Mrs. Anderson said. “Let the boy think about his emotions and figure things out alone, “ Mr. Anderson said. He’s going to be very fine.