That night, heavy rain fell over the city.
In his spacious study, Adrian was still sitting alone. The desk lamp was the only source of light. In front of him lay two DNA reports that he had been staring at for the past hour.
The first report.
Adrian Wijaya and Aurel Wijaya: no biological father-daughter relationship.
The second report was incomplete.
The name at the top made Adrian's heart beat faster.
Alya.
His hands clenched into fists.
“Eighteen years...” he murmured.
For eighteen years, he had raised Aurel with all his love. He had attended his daughter's birthdays, driven her to school, and bought her anything she wanted.
He had even told Aurel once that no one in the world could ever replace him as her father.
Now, all of it felt like a lie.
Not because his love had been false.
But because the blood he had always believed flowed through Aurel's veins was not his.
The study door opened.
“Adrian?”
The voice of his wife, Elena, made Adrian quickly hide the reports.
Elena entered carrying a cup of tea.
“You haven't gone to bed yet?”
Adrian shook his head.
“I still have some work to do.”
Elena set the tea on the desk.
“You've been acting strange ever since you got home. What's wrong?”
Adrian looked at his wife.
He wanted to tell her everything.
But the words felt too heavy to say.
“Elena...”
“Yes?”
“If one day you found out that something we'd believed for years was actually wrong, what would you do?”
Elena frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Adrian fell silent.
“Just answer me.”
Elena pulled out a chair and sat across from him.
“I'd find out the truth. No matter how bad it was.”
Adrian lowered his head.
“What if the truth could destroy our family?”
Elena fell silent.
“Then we'd have to be stronger than the truth.”
That simple sentence only made Adrian's chest tighten further.
He took the DNA report out of the drawer.
Elena read it.
Her face turned pale.
“This...”
“Yes.”
Elena stared at Adrian, her eyes widening.
“Aurel isn't...”
“She isn't my biological daughter.”
The room suddenly fell silent.
Elena covered her mouth.
“That can't be.”
“I hope so too.”
“But... how?”
“The hospital found that there were two baby girls in the same room that night.”
Elena began recalling what had happened eighteen years ago.
The night Aurel was born.
The night that was supposed to be the happiest night of their lives.
But it turned out that a terrible mistake had occurred that night.
“Who was the other baby?” Elena asked softly.
Adrian looked at her.
“Her name was Alya.”
Elena fell silent.
“Joko and Mira's child?”
Adrian nodded.
“I don't know yet whether Alya is really our child. But every clue points in that direction.”
Elena stared at the report with trembling hands.
“Then Aurel, all this time...”
“She is still our daughter.”
Adrian answered quickly.
“No matter whose blood runs through her veins.”
Tears spilled down Elena's cheeks.
“But what about Alya?”
Adrian didn't answer.
For the first time, he realized that finding his biological daughter might mean losing the child he had loved for eighteen years.
In the village, Mira still hadn't gone to sleep.
Alya was already fast asleep in her room.
But Mira was still sitting in the living room, holding an old wooden box.
She hadn't opened that box once in eighteen years.
Her hands trembled as she lifted the lid.
Inside were a yellowed baby bracelet, an old photograph, and a slip of paper from the hospital.
Mira picked up the bracelet.
The number printed on it was almost faded.
She stared at it for a long time.
Then she picked up the paper from the hospital.
Her eyes moved across the old writing.
Baby girl — Mira and Joko.
Mira covered her mouth.
Tears streamed down her face.
All this time, she had never questioned whether Alya was truly her child.
Not once.
Yet on the night the power went out at the hospital, she had indeed lost her baby for several minutes.
At the time, a nurse had told her that Alya's identification bracelet had come off.
Mira had thought everything was over.
But perhaps it wasn't.
“Oh, God...”
Mira closed her eyes.
If Alya wasn't her biological daughter...
Then who was the child she had raised all these years?
Suddenly, a voice came from behind her.
“Mom?”
Mira jumped.
Alya stood in the doorway.
“Why are you still awake, Mom?”
Mira hurriedly put everything back into the box.
“It's nothing.”
Alya came closer.
“Were you crying?”
Mira shook her head.
“Dust.”
Alya gave her a small smile.
“Mom, you're lying.”
Mira looked at her daughter.
That face.
The face that had been her reason to keep going for eighteen years.
Whatever the truth was, she wasn't ready to lose Alya.
“We're going to the city tomorrow,” Mira said suddenly.
Alya frowned.
“What for?”
Mira looked at her.
“I want to meet Aurel's family.”
Alya fell silent.
“Why?”
Mira clasped her daughter's hand.
“Because I want to know the truth.”
The next morning, Adrian arrived at the hospital with Elena.
The doctor who had handled the DNA testing was already waiting for them.
“Mr. Adrian, the follow-up test results are almost ready.”
“Almost?”
“We're matching the biological samples against the available data.”
Adrian took a deep breath.
“How long?”
“A few hours.”
Elena squeezed her husband's hand.
But before Adrian could respond, the door opened.
A nurse entered with a panicked expression.
“Doctor, there's someone outside.”
“Who?”
The nurse glanced at Adrian.
“Joko and Mira.”
Adrian immediately stood.
“They're here?”
“Yes, sir.”
Adrian looked at Elena.
They exchanged a glance.
Not one of them knew what would happen once that door opened.
A few seconds later, Joko and Mira entered.
Mira immediately saw Adrian.
Adrian looked at Mira as well.
They stood in silence.
Eighteen years ago, they had both been at the same hospital.
On the same night.
In the same room.
Two baby girls who had both been born that night.
And now, eighteen years later, they were standing in the same place again.
Mira held Alya's hand tightly.
Adrian looked at Aurel standing beside Elena.
The two girls stared at each other.
They had no idea that their lives were about to change forever.
The doctor brought in two folders.
“Before we make any decisions,” he said quietly, “there's one final test that needs to be done.”
Adrian looked at him.
“What test?”
The doctor opened the first folder.
“We need to run a DNA test between Aurel and Joko and Mira.”
The room suddenly fell silent.
Aurel froze.
“Dad...”
Adrian looked at his daughter.
For the first time, he didn't know what to call the girl.
His daughter?
Or someone he had raised all these years because of a mistake?
Aurel began to cry.
“What have you really been hiding from me, Dad?”
Adrian stepped closer.
“I'll explain everything.”
“But why do I need a DNA test?”
Aurel's voice trembled.
Adrian couldn't answer.
On the other side, Alya looked at her mother.
“Mom, you know something?”
Mira lowered her head.
Tears fell from her eyes.
“I'm scared, sweetheart.”
“Scared of what?”
Mira hugged Alya.
“I'm afraid this truth will make me lose you.”
Alya fell silent.
That day, two families who had never known each other were finally brought together by a single mistake from the past.
And before the day ended, the DNA test results would determine who the switched child really was.
But no one realized...
Someone had known from the very beginning what had truly happened that night.
And that person hadn't said a single word.