The drive back from Nurse Clara’s apartment was silent. Maya sat quietly in the front seat, her hands resting in her lap. Outside the window, the city passed by in a blur—buildings, traffic lights, people walking along the sidewalks. But she didn’t see any of it. Her thoughts were stuck on the woman’s trembling voice, on the words that still echoed in her ears.

A star-shaped birthmark.

A switch during the night shift.

A man who had paid her to take the baby.

Maya pressed a hand to her chest, as if trying to hold her heart together. The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt before. Not even...