I closed my laptop. “Give me your phone.”
Confused, she handed it over.
I opened her Kindle app, deleted her recent
reads: The Real Heiress and the Imposter,
The Real Heiress Returns, I Go Back to the
Farm, and Heiress Showdown.
“Weren’t you still reading Billionaire Boss
Falls for the Cleaning Lady? Why’d you start a
new one?”
She mumbled, a little sheepish. “It wasn’t
updating fast enough. I dropped it.”
“Well, since you’re busy, I’ll get going.”
“Close the door behind you, thanks!”
My mom vanished in a flash.
I heard her muttering, “So boring, just like
your father. No fun at all.”
Seriously, who has a mom who treats
romance novels like the Bible and constantly
tries to act them out?
I sighed, reopened my laptop, and tried to
pick up where I’d left off.
<
The door opened again.
This time, it was my panicked little brother,
Ethan.
“Ashley! It’s bad! Your secret’s out! My…
my… my real sister is here!”
Ethan was only six, completely warped by my
mom’s dramatic tendencies.
He was the only one who played along with
her crazy schemes.
And his lack of critical thinking skills? The
icing on the cake. It was enough to make
anyone lose their mind.
<
Deadpan, I said, “You’re a little late. I already
busted Mom. Didn’t she tell you?”
I pinched his chubby cheeks, smiling wickedly.
“Uh oh, you’re not Mommy’s favorite little boy
anymore. She’s not going to play with you.”
He squirmed, terrified. “No, Ashley, I’m
serious! There’s a lady downstairs. She says
you’re not Mom and Dad’s real daughter. She
is!”
“Mom freaked out! She’s on the floor! You
gotta come down!”
When I got downstairs, the girl was clinging
to my mom, crying.
r
“Mom! I finally found you! You have no idea
what my life has been like.”
“Beatings were a daily occurrence. The
bruises never faded before new ones
appeared.”
“They favored my brother. After he was born,
even breathing was a crime.”
My mom looked bewildered, glancing between
the girl and me.
