Chapter 1Standing at the front door of my grandparents' mansion, Mom hesitated, gripping my hand tightly.
"God, at my age, I never thought I'd actually find my birth parents."
She'd known for ages that she wasn't her adoptive parents' biological child, but they'd loved her like their own flesh and blood.
If their business wasn't keeping them overseas right now, they'd totally be here supporting her through this whole reunion thing.
I squeezed her hand back, trying to comfort her.
"Mom, you're only forty-five—you've got so much ahead of you. Finding Grandma and Grandpa just means we'll have more family who love us. That's gotta be a good thing, right?"
Mom nodded, still looking nervous as hell, when the door suddenly swung open. Some uptight butler dude stepped out, giving us this totally condescending once-over.
"Come in, I suppose," he said with this snooty-ass attitude. "The Sullivan family has a certain... reputation to maintain. Once you're inside, keep your hands to yourselves and try not to gawk at everything like tourists."
I frowned hard, and Mom's face went sour too.
Seriously? They were treating us like we just crawled out of some backwoods trailer park.
This attitude—was this how you're supposed to treat your long-lost daughter?
"Mom, maybe we should just bail," I said, stopping dead in my tracks. "If even the help is gonna act like we're beneath them, this family clearly doesn't give a damn about you being their actual daughter."
Mom wavered—I could tell she was torn.
I knew she'd always had this thing gnawing at her, this need to know how she'd ended up lost in the first place. Her life had been pretty smooth sailing, but there were always those lingering questions that kept her up at night.
I didn't want to make this harder for her. "Look, if these people turn out to be total jerks, we'll just leave. It's not like we need their money or their fake-ass love anyway."
Mom squeezed my hand tighter and followed the butler inside.
"Uncle, I'm like, SO devastated right now! If it wasn't for all this drama, I totally would've aced my SATs!"
"If I'd been valedictorian, you wouldn't abandon me and Mom, would you?"
Then this booming male voice cut through the air: "Valedictorian, huh? I'll just go have a little chat with whoever won that title—offer to buy it off them! We'll slap your name on it instead! Whatever makes my little princess happy!"
"Besides, sweetheart, I'd never abandon you. You've been such a good girl your whole life, a real lady. That country bumpkin could never compare to you."
I pointed at myself like, "..."
Dude wants to buy MY valedictorian title and just called me a country bumpkin?
"My Fiona! Oh, my sweet Fiona!" The second we stepped through the front door, this woman came rushing at Mom, threw her arms around her, and just started bawling. "This is my Fiona, my baby that I carried for nine months!"
Mom's name is Rebecca, so this "Fiona" thing must be what they named her originally.
Mom looked totally lost, glancing between me and this crying old lady, before awkwardly patting her shoulder. "Actually, I go by Rebecca now."
The old woman had silver hair and looked genuinely wrecked. When she heard Mom's words, she wiped her tears and finally let her go. "Of course, honey. It's been over forty years—you must've taken your adoptive family's name."
"So you must be big sister Fiona." This middle-aged woman appeared, looking at Mom with this fake-ass sympathetic expression, immediately turning on the waterworks. "I'm so sorry—I had no idea I wasn't really Mom and Dad's biological child. I'm just so glad you're home. They've missed you for so many years."
I could tell she was full of it—that calculating look in her eyes was way too obvious. This manipulative witch was definitely plotting something.
"Fiona, let Mom get a good look at you." The elderly woman took Mom's hand and led her to the sofa. "We've been searching for you for over forty years, and we finally found you!"
Chapter 2
She dabbed at her tears, and I could tell at least some of her emotion was genuine.
"It's all my fault." The uncle who'd been quiet until now finally looked our way. "Back then, little sister was playing by the river with me when she got swept away by the current. It's been eating at me ever since."
I looked at him, then at that fake-crying manipulator. "So what's her deal then?"
Mom had spent her whole life being gentle and soft-spoken. As an artist, she was always lost in her own world, which made her kind of socially awkward and not great at confrontation.
In situations like this, she'd just smile and go along with things unless someone really crossed the line. She hardly ever got mad.
It was exactly this pushover personality that made all four of us kids super protective of her. Dad spoiled her rotten, and so did we.
Uncle Derek Sullivan sighed heavily. "After your mother got swept away, we searched downstream and found this little orphaned girl. To help your grandmother cope with the loss, we brought her home..."
I nodded. "Oh, so she's like a replacement mom. Now that my real mom's back, when exactly are you planning to ship her out?"
Derek's face darkened. "Young lady, that's incredibly harsh. Your Aunt Patricia has lived with our family for forty years. If we just kicked her out the moment you showed up, what would people in our social circle think of the Sullivan family?"
"So what exactly is the plan for bringing my mother back then?" I raised an eyebrow.
Grandma looked at me with gentle eyes. "Sweetheart, the Sullivan family can certainly afford to support two daughters. From now on, they'll be like sisters, and you should try to get along with Jade too."
"But what if I made you choose between my mom and her?"
Ha! I could spot that manipulative witch from a mile away!
Sure, Mom and I wouldn't be living here, but having to see her during holidays and family visits would be absolutely nauseating.
Who knows what kind of passive-aggressive crap she'd pull on Mom behind closed doors.
Mom might be a pushover, but I sure as hell wasn't!
"Why do you keep trying to stir up trouble between us?" Derek looked annoyed. "They're both my sisters. Besides, Patricia is married—she won't be living here full-time anyway, so you won't see each other that often. She's been part of the Sullivan family for years now."
I stared him down. "So why exactly did you take my mom to the river? She was only three years old—did you do it on purpose?"
Everyone was caught off-guard that I'd zeroed in on that detail. They probably thought we really were some naive country folk who'd be grateful for whatever scraps of wealth and status they threw our way.
"You—I already told you it was an accident! She's my little sister—why would I want to hurt her?" His eyes shifted nervously for a split second, but I caught it.
I nodded slightly, now certain something fishy had definitely gone down back then.
"I see. So how exactly are you planning to make it up to her? To make up for all the suffering she's endured over the years?"
Derek glanced at us dismissively. "I'll give you a hundred thousand dollars from my personal account as compensation."
To country people, a hundred grand would seem like a fortune. To him, it was probably what he spent on a single watch.
"Dad?!" A girl who'd been silent until now jumped up. "She's the one who wandered off—why should you pay compensation? Didn't you say she was the one who insisted on going to the river? Besides, I don't want some hillbilly as my aunt anyway."
"I only want Aunt Patricia."
Chapter 3
When Mom heard this, she didn't lose her cool—just said calmly, "If that's how it is, then I have no reason to stay. I only came today to see my so-called birth family. I don't need your measly compensation, and since the Sullivan family doesn't want me here, my daughter and I will be leaving now."
"From now on, we'll go our separate ways and have nothing more to do with each other."
Mom stood up, her cool gaze sweeping over all of them without a trace of regret.
I stood up too. "We can't afford to drink the Sullivan family's tea or accept their compensation. Please don't bother disrupting our lives in the future."
As we were about to leave, I noticed the satisfied smirk on Patricia's face—she couldn't wait for us to get the hell out.
"STOP!" The grandfather, who'd been silent this whole time, finally spoke up.
But I kept walking toward the door with Mom.
You were quiet when we needed you to speak up, and now you want to stop us?
Who the hell cares what you have to say now.
"Trevor! Stop them!" The uncle who'd been silent until now suddenly rushed over to block our path.
Mom looked up at him, and I studied him too. This was the younger uncle who looked most like Mom.
"Since you're here, you're staying put!" Grandpa's face was red with anger, his white beard practically quivering. "Young lady, why do you have such a terrible attitude?"
I turned back to look at him. "We're not welcome here—why should we stick around?"
"There's a reason we called you back here." Grandma looked at Mom with obvious discomfort. "You have another brother named Marcus. He's sick and needs a kidney transplant. We've all been tested, but none of us are compatible, so..."
I nearly laughed out loud—not from amusement, but from pure rage.
"So you brought my mom back here just to harvest her kidney?!" What the actual hell!
I was ready to call my brother and have him bring some serious firepower to blow this whole Sullivan mansion to smithereens!!
Mom was stunned too. She never imagined that the family she'd longed for her entire life had only tracked her down to use her as spare parts.
"No!" Grandma rushed to Mom's side. "We missed you terribly too. If we hadn't found you, I never could have died in peace. Whether you get tested or not is entirely up to you—I just wanted to see if you've been happy."
Her tears looked genuine, and the redness around her eyes wasn't fake.
But Mom coldly brushed her hand away. "If you really loved me, you wouldn't have waited until now to find me."
Grandma sighed and let Trevor support her. What should have been a joyful reunion with a long-lost daughter had turned into this nightmare.
I could see the determination in Mom's eyes and knew she wasn't as soft as she appeared on the surface.
"Sister Fiona!!!" Patricia suddenly dropped to her knees in front of Mom. "I know you hate me! I know you think I stole your place for forty years, but Marcus is innocent! The doctors said if we can't find a compatible donor this week, he'll die! Please save him!"
"I'll leave the Sullivan family forever and never come back—just please save him!"
"I'm begging you!"
I stepped protectively in front of Mom, letting Patricia grovel at my feet instead of hers.
Mom started to say something, but I grabbed her hand to stop her.
I've read tons of stories about fake vs. real daughters—let me handle this!
