The next few months were a game of patience.

Veronica bought me a three-bedroom house in a quiet neighborhood. She and Eric didn’t even view it, or meet the agent until the day we signed the papers.

I breathed a sigh of relief as we left the realtor’s office that day. Step one was complete, and they were still clueless.

I updated them on doctor’s appointments and let Veronica feel my belly when she visited, cooing about “her” baby. I told her I was agonizing over choosing which baby to keep.

It was all a play for time while I prepared the final blow.

I went into labor on a Tuesday night. I texted Veronica when I left for the hospital, but made sure the nurses knew I didn’t want her or Eric in the delivery room.

I heard them complaining outside at one point, but the contractions were coming hard and fast by then and I didn’t make out what they were saying.

Six hours later, my babies arrived. Two perfect girls with wisps of dark hair and lungs that worked just fine.

The nurse smiled. “Want me to tell your husband and your… friend?”

“Tell them the babies are fine, but I need three days,” I said, holding my daughters.

The nurse looked confused but nodded.

I named the girls Lily and Emma. I memorized their faces, their cries, and the feel of their tiny fingers clasped around mine.

And I finalized my plan.

I took the babies home on the second day. On the third day, I called Veronica.

“I’m ready to talk.”

She and Eric showed up within an hour. Veronica was practically vibrating with excitement, Eric trailing behind her like a shadow.

“So,” she cooed, walking into my house. “Which one is mine?”

I took a deep breath, holding one baby in each arm. “Neither.”

Her smile froze. “Excuse me?”

I stood up slowly. My body ached, but my voice was strong.

“I’m not giving you my child, Veronica. Either of them.”

“You two thought you could buy a baby from me? Like I was some desperate idiot? Well, newsflash: I’m not.”

“Then I’m kicking you out of this house,” Veronica snarled. “You can live on the street for all I care!”

I smiled. “You can’t do that. This house is in my name.”

Veronica’s face drained of color. “What? No, that’s impossible! Eric, tell her!”

Eric looked just as confused. “We signed the papers together!”

“Yeah. And you both signed it over to me completely. You were too busy gloating to notice. My name’s the only one on the deed.”

Veronica stumbled back like I’d slapped her.

“You conniving little—”

“Oh, and one more thing,” I added, gently rocking Lily as she fussed. “I went ahead and told a few people about how Eric cheated on his pregnant wife, and how he and his mistress tried to buy his child.”

I nodded toward my phone on the coffee table.

“Feel free to check social media. I posted everything last night. The messages. The pictures. Your sick baby deal. It’s all there. I tagged your company too, Veronica, and your investors. Even those charity boards you sit on.”

Veronica lunged for my phone. Her face went from pale to gray as she scrolled.

“As you can see, they find your behavior very interesting.”

Veronica screamed, a sound of pure rage and desperation.

Eric grabbed the phone from her, his face white as paper. “You — you ruined us!”

“No. You ruined yourselves.”

Eric lost his job. Attempting to sell your child didn’t sit well with his company’s “family values” image. Veronica wasn’t just fired: she made front-page news for all the wrong reasons and her social and business circles blackballed her.

And me? I rocked my girls to sleep each night in our beautiful home, content in the knowledge that I didn’t just get revenge.

I won.