My skin prickled, and I flinched away.
She just thought I was scared. When she saw
the singed princess dress and the soot smeared
all over my face, she burst into tears.
“It’s all my fault, baby.” She sobbed, her fingers tracing my cheeks.
I scoffed inwardly.
The Andersons were total perfectionists. I was their prized “project.” They lived for
compliments about me. And then, they would get me everything I casually mentioned.
But after the fire, after my face was ruined,
<
9:35
their love just… stopped. They looked at me
like I was some mangy rat.
100
Seeing my face was still intact, Mom scooped
me up and hurried me away from the fire.
I buried my face in her shoulder, watching as a bunch of people frantically tried to pry open the door.
Timmy was unconscious when they finally
pulled him out, a bloody mess.
He was rushed to the hospital.
I was taken home.
“Thank God you’re alright, or I don’t know what I’d do!”
Mom was still crying. You’d think she actually
cared.
<
She was worried about her prized possession.
Dad let out a shaky breath.
They didn’t see the dark glint in my eyes.
2
After that day, I was supposedly “traumatized.”
I wouldn’t laugh, wouldn’t play.
My parents tried everything to cheer me up, but nothing worked.
They got me a shrink.
I “cooperated” perfectly.
The diagnosis: Post–traumatic stress.
From then on, my parents were all smiles and
soft voices around me.
く
I knew that if I asked for the moon, they’d try to
figure out how to get me a piece of moon rock.
But I still didn’t smile.
They started to panic.
“Honey, is there anything you want?” Mom
asked gently, holding me close.
Dad chimed in.
“Anything at all. I’ll move heaven and earth to
get it for you.”
I looked down, hiding the coldness in my eyes.
Yeah, that was them, alright.
After I came back home, almost a year later,
their precious adopted daughter was diagnosed with a heart condition. That girl pointed at me
and demanded my heart
<
And they orchestrated a car accident.
They sure would “move heaven and earth”
alright.
I pointed at the TV.
A historical drama was playing.
“Her,” I said.
Dad waved his hand dismissively.
“Get that actress over here for Maggie.”
I shook my head.
He stopped him, confused.
He looked at me, “What do you want, sweetheart? What did Daddy not understand?”
I blinked innocently.
く
“I want a servant.”
The actress I’d pointed to was playing a maid in
the show.
My parents exchanged a look.
That was a problem.
This was America. You couldn’t just go out and
get a servant.
And if it was someone to play with, they’d need
to be around seven or eight years old.
Child labor was definitely illegal.
Seeing their worried faces, I lowered my head, pretending to be sad.
“It’s okay if I can’t have one…‘
11
Dad paced around the living room getting
く
Dad paced around the living room, getting
frantic.
Mom squeezed my hand.
“Of course you can! You can have anything!”
I knew they’d figure something out.
Dad snapped his fingers in the air.
“I got it. An orphanage!”
I smiled silently as my parents started
brainstorming.
That’s right, guys. I’ve dug the hole. Now,
because you love me so much, you’re going to jump right in.
3
My parents dragged me to every orphanage in
<
the city.
We looked at hundreds of kids.
I was never satisfied.
Because none of them were her.
And my parents weren’t either.
Perfectionists to the core, even if they were
bringing home a pet, it had to be the cutest
one.
A month went by, and we found nothing.
That was the proof of how much effort they put in last time when finding an adopted daughter that they were satisfied with.
We searched all over the state, then crossed
state lines.
:
(
::
<
9:35
Finally, almost 2,000 miles south, we found a
cute little girl.
As soon as the director heard my parents‘
requirements, she led a girl out.
“This is Daisy.”
100
Her skin was porcelain, and her chubby cheeks
made her look adorable.
The girl’s eyes welled up when she saw my parents.
Mom frowned. “She’s cute, but she cries too much. Pass.”
She was supposed to be a servant, after all.
Dad nodded.
The girl bit her lip, forcing back the tears.
<
“I–I don’t cry a lot. I’m just so happy. Mommy
and Daddy, my name is Daisy Miller.”
She curtsied, like a little lady.
My parents frowned.
Mom said disapprovingly, “What are you talking about? Who said we were your mom and dad?”
Ever since the fire, I hadn’t called them that.
They wanted to hear it from me.
Daisy looked shocked.
“What? Aren’t you here to adopt me?”
Dad turned to the director. “Does this kid have
some kind of delusion?”
The director looked embarrassed. “She’s not
”
9:36
usually like this…”
100
Mom said, “We’re not adopting her. It’s Walter
who’s adopting a kid.”
Walter was our chauffeur.
Daisy shuddered.
“That’s not what’s supposed to happen. This
isn’t right. Why?”
She was muttering to herself, but Walter was
already walking in the door.
He looked annoyed at Daisy’s unhappy face.
Walter was thirty, married, and had two kids. He
didn’t want to adopt.
But Dad offered him a deal: if he and his wife
adopted a daughter, Dad would give him a
$20,000 raise.
<
9:36
His chauffeur salary would be almost $100k a
year.
So, swallowing his pride, he agreed.
Thinking about all that money must’ve calmed
him down.
“Yes, I’m here to adopt a child.”
The director asked Daisy, “Daisy, do you
agree?”
She clenched her dress, trembling.
Something was off.
Did she also remember the previous timeline?
With that question in mind, I walked out from
behind my mom, wearing my pink shoes.
Daisy locked eves with me and blurted.
100
<
Daisy locked eyes with me and blurted,
“Who are you?”
Mom hugged me protectively. “This is our
daughter, Maggie. Watch your mouth.”
Daisy looked stunned.
“That’s impossible! You’re not…”
In her memory, I was a disfigured monster.
Someone she could push around.
But she didn’t know that the scales had tipped
in my favor.
“If she’s not, then are you?” Mom said angrily.
“You’re being rude. We might reconsider this
adoption.”
“I’m sorry.” She lowered her head, looking
pitiful.
<
Of course she wouldn’t give up. Even if it meant
going with Walter, getting close to my parents
was worth it.
I pretended to be scared and hid my face in
Mom’s neck.
The smile on my face was hard to hide.
Another idiot jumping into my trap.
4
My parents and Walter were filling out the
paperwork, so Daisy and I went back to the car.
As soon as we were inside, her good–girl act
disappeared.
“Maggie! How aren’t you disfigured yet?”
It made sense she’d ask. Last time, I was a
disfigured mess when my parents adopted her.
<
“You look so pretty,” I said, glancing at her.
“You must have spent ages getting ready, huh?”
Wearing a clean dress, hair in cute braids.
Waiting for my parents to adopt her.
“Too bad. They don’t like you anymore.”
“You remember too!” she jumped up. “Maggie,
did you make me become Walter’s daughter?!”
I grinned.
“Wrong. With me around, they won’t adopt
anyone else. They just had Walter bring you
back to fulfill my request.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, her face red.
I saw them approaching outside, so I dropped
my head and went silent, like before.
9:36
She lunged at me. “Don’t play dead with me!”
The door opened and Mom saw her attacking
- me.
She grabbed Daisy’s collar.
“Daisy, if you hurt my daughter, I’ll throw you
out in front of a car!”
She would.
Daisy knew it.
Because that was my fate in the last timeline.
She bit her lip, looking victimized. “My name’s
Daisy Miller.”
