I Found Out I Was the Real Daughter Before the SAT So I Tanked It Chapter 02

I Found Out I Was the Real Daughter Before the SAT So I Tanked It Chapter 02

A few minutes later, Mom shoved my door open and held her phone up in front of me. “What did you post? Delete it.”

“Why?”

“So what if you get into Harvard? You haven’t actually gotten in yet, and you’re already getting cocky? I’m telling you, even if you do get in, you can’t slack off.”

“Your father and I have already planned it out for you. You’ll major in business administration, and when you come back, you can help Willa manage the family company. Why are you messing around with a skateboard now? You’re wasting time on nonsense.”

I didn’t answer her. I just looked down at the photo.

For some reason, I thought back to the year I was eight.

Ever since I was little, Mom and Dad had signed me up for every expensive enrichment class they could find.

Horseback riding, piano, French lessons—everything rich families used to polish their children into something impressive.

But I refused. I only wanted to skateboard.

That day, when Dad found out I had gotten an 8 out of 100 on a math test, he was so furious that he smashed my skateboard onto the ground.

“A girl should be studying, not messing around on a skateboard!”

“Your mother and I both went to elite schools. How did we end up with a useless kid who gets an 8 out of 100 on a math test?”

Back then, I was still the spoiled only daughter of a wealthy family everyone envied.

I was afraid of absolutely nothing.

I stepped onto my skateboard, lifted my chin, and snapped, “This is my yard. I can play with whatever I want.”

Dad was livid.

Then Mom added coldly, “Do you really think you’re some little princess? Fine. I’ll tell you the truth today. You’re not our biological daughter.”

“If you don’t behave, we’ll send you back to that rural backwater.”

At first, I didn’t believe them.

That changed when they brought Willa home, gave her the best room, closets full of new dresses, and more spending money than she could ever use.

That was when I finally got scared.

I was scared they really would send me back to that rural backwater, scared I would become an orphan nobody wanted.

So I locked my skateboard in the closet and fought like my life depended on it to be first in everything.

I believed that lie for ten whole years.

After pushing myself so hard, I had been one step away from the honor they wanted most. Then, all at once, I got tired.

Mom saw me staring at the photo in a daze, and her tone softened a little despite herself.

“This is your life, Annalise. You may not be our biological daughter, but as long as you do well, we’ll still support you through grad school, even a PhD…”

“Are you done?” I looked at her.

“You—delete the Instagram post first.”

“No.”

Mom’s face changed. “You—”

I picked up the skateboard, walked past her, and rode it once down the hallway.

Behind me, she shouted, “Annalise Nolan, stop right there!”

That night, she was furious.

After all, ever since I was eight, she had never seen that rebellious version of me again.

But since I had just finished my exams, she didn’t actually do anything to me. She only slammed my bedroom door and refused to speak to me for the rest of the night.