Marissa opened the door expecting her husband—same hoodie, same face—but “something felt off.” He skipped her usual nickname, didn’t kiss her, and even the cat hissed. He wandered the house asking about “money that didn’t exist.”
Keeping calm, Marissa led him to the basement and locked the door. She called the real Hayden, who came home shocked. The intruder looked exactly like him but felt different—“a stranger in her husband’s skin.”
Police revealed his name was Grant—Hayden’s twin, separated at birth and raised in foster care. They’d met briefly in a bar, but Hayden hadn’t believed the connection until Grant showed up uninvited.
Grant wasn’t violent, just lost. Hayden refused to press charges. Weeks later, he helped Grant find a job, and the couple invited him to dinner. It was awkward but civil.
Marissa wasn’t ready to forgive, but she tried. Each night, she sees their cat Waffles curl up at Hayden’s feet and knows, “the real one stayed.”
