My Birth Parents and Husband Chose the Adopted Daughter, So I Vanished Chapter 08

My Birth Parents and Husband Chose the Adopted Daughter, So I Vanished Chapter 08

Meanwhile, in San Diego, California, I was lying in an apartment near the ocean, eating freshly cut

fruit.

The System was giving me one final live update.

[Host, Adrian went back into the fire. The second explosion injured him, and he won’t be able to

move properly for months. He also sent his men to look for your remains. I made sure they found nothing.]

The System’s voice rose with anger.

[He was always so good at pretending to love you. Now it’s finally his turn to suffer.]

I watched Adrian unravel on the screen and felt nothing but exhaustion.

I’d seen this performance too many times.

Whenever I was truly on the verge of death, he could always act like he loved me more than anyone

in the world.

But the second Serena cried, he would immediately decide that I was causing trouble, that I knew nothing about the rules, and that I was far too sensitive because I’d grown up in foster care.

Whatever concern he showed now meant nothing to me.

“Thank you,” I said to the System.

“If you hadn’t bent the rules for me, I’d never have made it out. I hadn’t even completed the mission, and you still saved my life.”

The System fell silent for a few seconds.

[What will you do now?]

I looked out the window.

“Live my own life. I never want to see that world again.”

The System agreed and went dormant.

My adoptive parents in this world, Thomas Hayes and Irene Hayes, were both retired professors living in San Diego.

They had lost their daughter when they were younger.

After the System brought me into this world, they found me unconscious near the beach.

When I woke up, they never pushed me to explain the parts of my past I didn’t want to talk about.

Later, when they learned that I had no family in this world, they formally adopted me.

The smell of baking apple pie drifted out of the kitchen.

Irene poked her head around the doorway.

“Evelyn, wash your hands first. And stop sneaking bites.”

Smiling, I put down the cushion in my arms.

“All right, Mum.”

Even now, calling someone “Mum” still felt strange for a heartbeat.

So this was what it felt like to truly be someone’s daughter. I didn’t have to prove I deserved it first.

They never frowned because I couldn’t tell which set of cutlery was more expensive.

They were never ashamed of where I’d lived before

They never held up another girl as an example of what someone from their world was supposed to

look like.

Here, they made it clear whose side they were on.

Mine.

That life went on for six months.

Then one day, the System was suddenly forced awake.

[Host, something’s wrong.]

“What is it?”

[Adrian and your biological parents from that world have broken through the barriers between worlds. They’ve found you.]

The cup in my hand nearly slipped from my fingers

I pulled back the curtain

Sure enough three familiar figures were standing downstairs.

Adrian

Richard

Margaret

After six months apart, all three of them looked far more worn down than before.

I asked the System, “What happens if I don’t see them?”

Nothing They don’t belong in this world. The system governing space and time will send them

back soon. Ten days at most.]

Ten days

But they were already standing outside my home.

I didn’t want Thomas and Irene dragged into any of this.

I might as well end it once and for all.

Downstairs, Adrian had already started calling my name.

“Evelyn! I know you’re in there. Please, just come out and speak to me. I can explain everything.”

I stayed silent for a moment.

Then I opened the door.

The second Adnan saw me, he froze.

For a moment, he couldn’t say anything at all

Then he rushed forwards and pulled me into his arms

“Evelyn I’ve finally found you I thought you were dead. I can’t lose you again.”

I shoved him away with all my strength.

As if terrified I might disappear again, he started speaking too quickly, his words tumbling over one

another.

“Serena wasn’t pregnant because I loved her. I only did it so you could have a child. She was never

my partner. I’ve cut her off from the Moretti Family and stripped her of her capo rank. I know I was

wrong. Please come home with me.”

My parents stepped forwards as well.

In only six months, most of their hair had turned grey.

Tears kept streaming down my mother’s face.

“Evelyn, you’re our daughter. Our own flesh and blood. We kept using your past against you. We thought Serena seemed more like a Carter, so we chose her over you every time.”

My father lowered his head too.

“We were wrong. Come home. No one will ever say you’re not good enough again.”

I listened to them.

And all I felt was disgust.