Chapter 2 - The Silicone Seam
My world stopped. The backyard, the guests, the decorations—everything vanished into a silent blur. All I could see was Daniel pointing, his hand still shaking. I saw my sister, Madison, frozen. She had clamped both hands over the bottom of her dress, her knuckles white.
"Don't touch me," she hissed, the words landing like a stone dropping into still water. "You'll ruin it."
"Ruin what, Madison?" Daniel’s voice was strained, but his focus was deadly. "The lies?"
I was the only one close enough to act. I stepped between Daniel and Madison, my heart pounding in my throat. I looked at Madison. Her expression wasn't one of shock or pain. It was terror.
I looked at her stomach. The satin under my fingers felt... wrong. It was too cool. Too smooth. There was no warmth of skin, no dynamic response. When I pressed slightly, it didn't shift like a baby. I found a distinct seam. My thumb caught the edge of something rubbery underneath the dress.
"Madison, let me go," I said, my voice trembling.
She tried to slap my hand away, but she was too late. I lifted the edge of the blue fabric half an inch. The truth was revealed. Under it wasn't my sister's pregnant stomach. It was beige silicone.
Behind me, the guests had become a vacuum of silence. I heard an ice cube crack in a plastic cup halfway across the yard. The only sound in my head was a ringing that seemed to drown out the entire celebration.
The silence was finally broken by Daniel. He didn't look triumphantly at Madison. He held up his phone with a somber intensity. "This is for the costumes Madison ordered," he said, holding it so my parents could see the screen. "Delivered two weeks ago."
I felt my mouth drop open. A receipt from a costume-supply company in Los Angeles. Total: $612.40. Two silicone prosthetic pregnancy bellies. The kind actors use.
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Madison’s face changed. The queen became a cornered animal. Her eyes, usually so calm, darted from the screen to the gift table, to the locked card box filled with checks, to the emergency fund my parents had made. $75,000. She was looking at the exit.
"Madison?" My father lowered the camera. He looked at her, his expression shattering, unable to comprehend what was happening. He took a step forward, his eyes filling with tears. "My God. What did you do?"
