“Hi, I’m Robin.”
I felt an instant spark, like electricity coursing through my veins. “Selena. Nice to meet you.”
I found myself leaning in as we chatted, captivated by his stories and wit. He spoke of his work as a software engineer, his love for rock climbing, and his dreams of traveling the world.
With each word, I felt myself falling deeper under his spell.
When the bell rang again, Robin stood up, hesitation brimming in his eyes as he gripped the back of the chair.
“Listen, I know this is unconventional, but would you like to grab a coffee after this? I’d love to continue our conversation.”
My cheeks flushed, and my heart raced. “I’d really like that. Tomorrow? I said, feeling the heat creep into my cheeks as he kissed the back of my hand.
“Sure! Will be waiting for you in the café downtown!”
As we left the restaurant later that night, I couldn’t shake the feeling that my life was about to change forever.
The next afternoon, I couldn’t stop smiling as I recounted my evening to my mom, Daisy.
“He sounds wonderful, honey,” she said, her eyes crinkling with happiness. “I haven’t seen you this excited about someone in years.”
“I know, Mom. There’s just something about Robin. It’s like… like I’ve known him my whole life.”
“Well, don’t get ahead of yourself. But I am happy for you. Do you have a picture?”
“Oh! Yeah, we took a selfie.” I pulled out my phone, swiping to find the photo. My heart fluttered as I looked at Robin’s smiling face. “Here he is!”
The moment I turned the screen towards her, Mom’s face turned pale.
“Mom? What’s wrong?” I freaked out.
Her eyes were wide with panic, fixed on the phone screen. “Selena, oh my God… it’s HIM. The man who robbed my friend Janet! CALL THE POLICE RIGHT NOW!”
“What? No, that can’t be right.” I shook my head, confusion and disbelief warring inside me.
“I’m telling you, it’s him! He conned Janet out of her life savings. Promised to marry her, took every penny she had, and then vanished! We need to call the police right now, honey!”
My stomach dropped, a cold dread seeping into my bones. “Are you sure?” I asked, desperately hoping she was mistaken.
“Positive. Janet showed me his picture a hundred times when we were trying to track him down. I’d never forget that face.”
I stared at Robin’s smiling face on my phone, feeling sick. The warm brown eyes that had seemed so kind now looked calculating. The charming smile now seemed sinister. How could I have been so blind?
Mom reached for her phone, her fingers shaking as she started to dial 911. Without thinking, I grabbed her wrist, stopping her. “Mom, wait!”
“What do you mean, wait? We need to turn him in!”
“If we call now, he might get spooked and disappear again,” I said slowly, a plan forming in my mind. “But, what if we set a trap?”
Mom’s eyebrows shot up. “What are you thinking?”
“I have a date with him tomorrow night. What if I go, act normal, and you call the police to meet us there?”
She hesitated, worry etching lines across her forehead. “I don’t like the idea of you being alone with him. He’s dangerous, Selena.”
“It’ll be in a public place, Mom,” I assured her, even as my heart raced at the thought. “And think about it. This might be our only chance to catch him. To get justice for Janet and who knows how many others.”
After a long moment, she nodded, fear still lingering in her eyes.
As we began to plot our plan, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was balancing on a knife’s edge. One wrong move and everything could come crashing down.
The next evening, I sat across from Robin at a cozy café, my nerves on edge. He looked as handsome as ever in a blue shirt that brought out his eyes.
But now, his charming smile made my skin crawl. Every compliment and every gentle touch of his hand on mine felt like a lie.
“You look beautiful!” Robin said, reaching for my hand across the table.
I forced myself not to flinch away, plastering on a smile that felt more like a grimace. “Thank you. You look nice too.”
As he launched into a story about his day, I discreetly texted Mom under the table, “Now!”
“So, tell me more about your family,” I said, desperate to keep the conversation going.
A shadow seemed to pass over Robin’s face so quickly that I almost missed it. “It’s complicated,” he said after a moment.
Before I could probe further, I saw two uniformed officers enter the café.
They approached our table, and Robin’s easy smile faltered. “Is there a problem, officers?” he asked, his eyes darting between them and me.
One of them stepped forward, his hand resting on his belt. “Sir, we need you to come with us for questioning.”
“Selena, what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry, Robin. But we know what you did to Janet. And probably to countless other women.”
I thought this was it. But what happened next left me reeling.
After a tense conversation with the officers, during which Robin vehemently denied knowing any Janet, they released him. And he walked back to our table.
“Selena, I don’t understand. Who’s Janet? What’s this all about?”
I blinked, utterly lost. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to be led away in handcuffs, not standing here looking at me like I’d betrayed him.
“The woman you conned. My mom’s friend. You… you took everything from her.”
Robin shook his head, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve never met anyone named Janet in my life. But, wait a minute, I think I know what happened here.”
He pulled out his phone, his fingers flying across the screen. After a moment, he turned it towards me. I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth.
The photo showed two identical men — Robin, and another who could have been his clone. Same eyes, smile, and same everything.
But while Robin looked relaxed and happy in the photo, his double had an edge to him, a hardness in his eyes that sent a chill down my spine.
“That’s my twin brother, Adrian,” Robin revealed. “We haven’t spoken in over six months. He’s had some trouble with the law. I’ve been trying to help him, but he disappeared. I think he might be the one you’re looking for.”
I felt the blood drain from my face, shame and horror cloaking me in equal measure. “Oh my God. Robin, I’m so sorry. I thought—”
He held up a hand, cutting me off. “It’s okay. I understand. Anyone would have done the same thing in your shoes.”
But I could see the hurt in his eyes. I’d accused him of being a criminal and had the police come after him. Would he ever forgive me?
As if on cue, Mom burst into the café, her eyes wild as she scanned the room. When she spotted us, she rushed over, stopping short when she saw Robin still sitting there.
“What’s going on? Why isn’t he in custody?”
I stood up, placing a hand on her arm. “Mom, we made a mistake. A big one.”
Robin stood as well, offering his hand to my mother. “Mrs…?”
“Daisy,” Mom said, frowning.
“Mrs. Daisy, I understand there’s been a misunderstanding. I’m not the man who hurt your friend. But I think I might know who did.”
He showed her the photo, and I watched as the same shock I’d felt played across Mom’s face.
“I can’t believe it,” she murmured, looking between Robin and his brother’s picture. “They’re identical.”
“Adrian and I… we’ve always been close. Or we were. But lately, he’s been making some bad choices. I’ve been trying to help him, but he disappeared a few months ago. I’ve been worried sick.”
I reached out, touching his arm before I could stop myself. “I’m so sorry for putting you through this, Robin. I feel terrible.”
He gave me a small smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t. You were trying to do the right thing. To protect others from being hurt.”
Mom shook her head, sinking into a chair. “I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you, dealing with your brother’s actions.”
Robin’s smile faded completely. “It’s been challenging. But I’m not giving up on him. I can’t.”
An awkward silence fell over the table. I fidgeted with my napkin, trying to find the right words to fix this mess I’d created.
How do you apologize for accusing someone of being a criminal? For bringing the police down on an innocent man?
Finally, I took a deep breath, steeling myself. “Robin, I know this isn’t how either of us imagined this evening going. And I completely understand if you never want to see me again. But, if you’re willing, I’d love to start over. Maybe we could try another date? One without any police involvement or mistaken identities?!”
He looked at me for a long moment. My heart raced as I waited for his response. Finally, he broke into a genuine grin, the warmth returning to his eyes.
“I’d like that, Selena. I’d like that a lot!”
As we left the café, walking into the cool night air, I couldn’t help but feel that despite all the chaos and misunderstandings, this might just be the beginning of something wonderful.
And terrifying. Because now, somewhere out there, was a man who looked exactly like the one beside me. A man who was everything I’d feared Robin to be.
Mom assumes baby is safe with dad till she gets a hair rasing text message – she rushes home to see the worst
A significant turning point in many people’s lives is becoming parents. Another human person needs you to be there for them at all times, and they depend entirely on you. However, not everyone is prepared for this level of accountability.
Continue reading to learn more.Angie Setlak was really anxious when she was expecting her son, Xavier. She tried to devote all of her attention to their young son because her partner had been unfaithful.
She had imagined that all would change after the baby boy was born, but that fantasy quickly gave way to a nightmare. She got a message from her partner one day. She didn’t have much time to save their son’s life once she received the message.The worst fear for any parent is that their small child may suffer harm.
No matter how big or small your child is, as a parent you will stop at nothing to ensure their safety.
However, on rare occasions, we also learn of people who are not at all qualified to be parents.
When everything went wrong, Angie Setlak was expecting her and her boyfriend’s kid, Xavier. Her partner was not at all interested in her, even though she was counting down the seconds as her tummy continued to swell.He was unfaithful all the time, breaking Angie’s heart over and over.So things turned upside down again when the son was delivered four weeks early.
His father’s infidelity caused us to have a stressful pregnancy, which had an impact on both the baby and my blood pressure. However, we succeeded, and he was born perfectly healthy. The physicians, who had predicted he would remain in my womb until his due date, were taken aback when he erupted in a fit of rage. After spending 16 days in the hospital, we returned home, and I had three wonderful months at home with my child,” Angie says to Love What Matters.One individual, though, found it difficult to adjust to the new existence.His father and Xavier were left alone one day. Furthermore, Xavier’s father, who was expected to look after the child while mother Angie returned to her job, was unable to cope.Angie was going to start her first job after her maternity leave when she went through something that nobody should have to go through.
She received numerous texts from her partner throughout the day complaining about how hard it was to care for their son. “Xavier’s father had been texting me all day about how difficult his life was, and I assured him that we would find a different way so he wouldn’t have to look after him by himself during the day. She tells the website that during his parental leave, he had only spent a maximum of two hours by himself with him, and it had gone well.The arrangement was for me to look after Xavier during the day while I worked, and for him to look after him at night while he worked. He worked evenings. My spouse kept telling me that everything would be well, even though I was really anxious about the scenario because, after all, he had raised a 10-year-old.But everything changed when the message arrived.He sent his girlfriend a startling text later that day in which Xavier’s father requested whether he might kill the boy. “I received a text from him on my first day back at work after taking maternity leave, asking if he could kill our child right away. I told him I was heading home and asked him not to bother.
Not too long afterward, she got another message.Xavier’s breathing stopped.Mom Angie hurried to the hospital after the small child was taken there immediately.The father insisted that their son had choked on milk, even though the boy had brain damage.Angie soon found out, though.Xavier spent two weeks in a medically induced coma to aid him. They warned his mother that he might not wake up and gradually weaned him off of his medication. We battled against two foes. Trauma and the period of time his brain was devoid of oxygen. I heard everything from “he might never learn to walk, talk, or move” to “he might be blind.” But I remained confident that he will return to me,” the mother remarked. Angie was able to go home with her son after spending 17 days in the hospital.
In contrast, Xavier’s father was taken into custody on charges of abusing his child.Angie claims that the police believed the father had given Xavier a violent shaking that seriously injured his brain.Xavier has had more surgeries since then and is getting stronger every day. The wonderful little Xavier is the only person in his mother Angie’s life; his father has been absent for a long time.”I’m hoping that someone who reads our narrative would be moved to tears and understand how crucial it is to never shake a newborn. You should never, ever shake a baby. Avoiding it is quite simple. My child was irreparably altered by a fit of rage.
This story really breaks my heart. How could the father of a kid commit such a horrific act? Spread the word about this to increase awareness.
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