“Julian, she’s your daughter.

What are you talking about?”

He looked directly at Chloe.

Then he looked straight at me and said:

“I’m sorry, but I’m not taking her home with me!”

And he placed the baby back into my arms.

With tears in her eyes, Chloe demanded to know why they couldn’t take their daughter home.

Julian exhaled, his face turning red, and said:

“Look at her back.

We can’t do this.

She can’t be our daughter.”

I looked at the baby’s back and nearly fainted.

Chloe screamed so loudly that people all over the floor could hear her, and hospital staff came rushing over to see what had happened…

PART 2: THE MARK ON THE SKIN