The Daughter They Never Wanted Chapter 09

The Daughter They Never Wanted Chapter 09

Both Daisy and I went viral, but for opposite reasons.

She was eviscerated by the public, while I was showered with support and praise.

My school forum story got dug up too.

People online were scary good. They found out Daisy created that page herself.

[I heard that girl who got early admission isn’t their real daughter. She’s adopted.]

[No way! She looks exactly like her mom in high school. I have proof!]

I blinked when I saw the comment, then clicked open the photo. A plain-faced young woman stared back at me from the screen. Oh. So that was the secret.

My mom was ordinary-looking too. Just like me.

Later, she got plastic surgery in secret. Later, she married my dad and had Daisy.

Daisy got all of Dad’s good genes. None of Mom’s flaws.

And me? I got screwed.

Inherited her puffy eyelids and flat nose.

Mom was terrified someone would find out about her surgery. So she sent the “ugly” child away to live with my grandmother in the countryside, far from prying eyes.

—

When the truth came out, Mom’s company fired her. Dad got mocked everywhere he went.

He couldn’t take it. He filed for divorce.

Mom cried, “Is it because you found out I had surgery?”

Dad didn’t answer. He just asked Daisy who she wanted to live with.

She chose the parent with the money, no hesitation. She even told Mom she was embarrassing to be around.

Mom came crying to me. Said she had nothing left. Only me.

Silently, I slid my official birth records across the table. “Sorry. You’re not listed as my legal guardian. I was never legally your daughter.”

She grabbed my arm. Crying.

“Nancy, don’t be so cruel… I carried you for nine months. Of course I love you.”

“You love me?” I tried to remember.

“Is that why you took Daisy on vacation every year on my birthday?”

“Why you complained to her that I was an embarrassment and you regretted having me?”

“Is that why you smiled on the sidelines every time Daisy hurt me?”

“And when I fought back, you slapped me until I couldn’t fight anymore. Until my whole body was covered in bruises?”

“Remember your birthday?”

—

“I saved up for so long to buy you a scarf.”

“You threw it in the trash. But you couldn’t put down the cookie Daisy gave you.”

I laughed. Tears fell anyway. I knew it was that little girl inside me crying. She cried, why are Mom and Dad so unfair?

Because you’re not really theirs. Thinking that made it hurt less.

Mom acted like she had no recollection of any of it, like all those years of cruelty had simply never happened. She just sobbed and wouldn’t look at me. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked out. I didn’t look back.