But as I kept walking, I noticed something strange. The woman had stopped near the dumpster at the edge of the alley. She hesitated, looking around like she was checking if anyone was watching. I froze, curiosity piqued. What is she doing?
“What are you doing?” I whispered to myself, watching her hesitate, her fingers gripping the stroller’s handle so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
And then, she did the unthinkable. She left the stroller by the dumpster, took one last, long look at it at whatever was inside, and walked away.
Fast.
“Wait…what the hell?” I muttered. My feet froze, my body refusing to move as my mind scrambled to make sense of what I’d just seen. Who leaves a stroller like that? My eyes darted between her disappearing figure and the abandoned stroller.
She didn’t come back.
I swallowed hard. “I… I must have seen that wrong,” I whispered, looking down at Anne. She stared back up at me, her little eyes wide with curiosity, as if sensing my panic. “People don’t just leave babies… right?”
But my legs were already moving, as if on autopilot. I shouldn’t get involved. I had Anne to think about. But something wouldn’t let me walk away.
“What if it’s just… empty?” I said aloud, trying to calm my racing heart as I took cautious steps toward the stroller. “Maybe it’s just… old clothes or something.”
I stopped in front of it, my breath shaky. My fingers hovered over the handle.
“Okay, okay, here we go,” I whispered, gripping the sleek, expensive leather handle. Slowly, I leaned over to peek inside.
And that’s when my world changed forever.
I stood there, frozen, staring into the stroller. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“Is that… cash?” I whispered, blinking rapidly, hoping I was imagining things. But no, it was real. Bundles of it. Neatly stacked, large values of money.
I glanced down at Anne, who was babbling softly, oblivious to the chaos swirling in my mind.
“This can’t be happening. No way.”
My hand shook as I reached out to touch one of the bundles. The crisp bills felt unreal under my fingertips. I pulled my hand back like it burned me.
“What the hell is going on?” I muttered to myself, glancing around the alley. Was this some kind of setup? My heart pounded louder with every second.
Maybe there were cameras. Maybe someone was watching me right now, waiting for me to take the bait.
“Should I leave it? No, I can’t just walk away. I… I need this. Anne needs this.” I was practically talking to myself at this point, trying to reason through the flood of panic crashing over me.
Then I saw it, the envelope, tucked neatly between the bundles. My fingers trembled as I pulled it out and ripped it open. A single note fell out, written in neat, careful handwriting.
“Take it. You’ll need it more than I do. Please don’t try to find me.”
I read it aloud, my voice cracking. “What the…?”
I glanced around again, half-expecting the woman to jump out from the shadows, but the alley was empty. The only sounds were Anne’s soft gurgles and my own frantic breathing.
“What do I do, Anne?” I asked, looking down at her. She blinked up at me, completely unaware of the life-altering decision I was about to make.
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