The Daughter They Threw Away Came Back Wearing His Ring Chapter 01

The Daughter They Threw Away Came Back Wearing His Ring Chapter 01

After I set up the camera, I finally realized the family who had booked the portrait session were the parents and sister I had run from five years ago.

The second our eyes met, my mother’s smile froze.

Her eyes turned red. She stared at me for a long moment before she asked, “Addison… is that really you?”

“You’re alive?”

My finger rested on the shutter button.

“Please keep smiling and look into the lens.”

My father shot to his feet.

“Is your temper still this bad? You hid from us for five years. What kind of grudge is worth holding against your own family for that long?”

I glanced at the dog sitting beside my sister.

It was wearing a rhinestone collar with the name Addie on it.

The same nickname they had once used for me.

I honestly could not understand why he was angry.

They were the ones who had spent my whole childhood telling me I was nothing but a donor built to keep Gina alive.

Even their dog got to be in the family portrait I had begged for as a child and never been allowed to join.

A family like that was something I had given up on long ago.

…

Gina’s gaze slid over my dust-stained work uniform.

Her voice carried just enough pity to sound cruel.

“What happened back then was my fault, I admit that. But you ran away and still ended up like this?”

I adjusted the focus ring without looking at her.

“If you still want the photos, please cooperate. If not, the deposit is non-refundable.”

My mother, Kylie Hetter, kept dabbing at the corners of her eyes.

Then she reached for my arm.

“A family portrait needs the whole family in it. Addison, come stand with Mom.”

I stepped out of reach.

“On the booking form, you wrote party of four. Three people and one dog. The dog is already in position, so please return to your seat and help me finish the shoot.”

My father, Stephen Hetter, went livid at once.

“Unbelievable.”

He jabbed a finger so close to my face I could feel the heat of his skin.

“When you were little, you cried and begged to be in the picture. Now you think you’re too good for us? Who exactly are you trying to impress?”

I was about to call security when Gina hurried over and grabbed his arm.

“Calm down. Please. Don’t forget we still have dinner with the Cooper family tonight.”

She checked her watch, then wrote down a phone number and held the paper out to me.

“We’re in a rush today. Find some time and talk things through with us. Families should not stay broken forever.”

I did not take the paper.

“For photography appointments, contact the studio landline.”

Then I looked at all three of them.

“You used me for eighteen years of stem-cell and marrow procedures. I owe you nothing.”

“And from the day I was born, you made sure I was never treated like your daughter in any way that mattered. So stop acting familiar.”

My parents both went pale.

They opened their mouths as if they wanted to say something, but Gina checked her watch again and set the note on my workstation instead.

“I’m about to marry into the Cooper family. For the sake of the past, I don’t mind helping you a little.”

Her eyes swept over my clothes again.

“You’ve been on your own for five years. Think carefully about whether you can afford to turn that down.”

Then she hooked an arm through each of my parents’ arms and swept out of the studio with her chin raised.

I had just called my assistant over to throw the note away when my phone rang.

It was Spencer Cooper, my fiancé.

“Sorry, baby,” he said. “There’s a business dinner tonight. I tried to push it back several times, but I couldn’t get out of it. I can only take you to look at wedding gowns tomorrow.”

“It’s fine. Who are you having dinner with tonight?”

Spencer gave a tired sigh.

“A medical supply distributor Cooper Group has worked with for years. Their contract is up for renewal, and now they suddenly want to renegotiate everything. Weird timing. They are cutting into my time with my fiancée.”

I understood at once.

I gave a quiet response, and Spencer caught the shift in my mood immediately.

“Something’s wrong. Did you run into another awful client?”

“We opened that studio so you could do something that made you happy. If a client bothers you, block them.”

I laughed softly.

“My birth parents and my sister came to the studio for a family portrait.”

“And from what you just said, I’m guessing the people you’re having dinner with tonight are probably them.”