Chapter 3

3

When Tinsley woke the next morning and saw the party decorations, her eyes lit up with joy.

She jumped straight into my mother's arms, begging her to make a wish and blow out the candles together.

My mother smiled softly. Once the candles were out, she whispered that she had a special surprise.

I watched in horror as she pulled out the silver baby locket I had defended with my life.

Why was my locket with my mother? Hadn't a strange man violently snatched it from me on the street?

Tinsley's eyes sparkled with excitement. She took the silver locket and planted a loud kiss on my mother's cheek.

"Thank you, Mommy! I only mentioned once that I liked Maisie's shiny pendant, and you got it for me so fast. You are the best mommy ever!"

My mother stroked her hair with unconditional adoration.

"Of course, sweetheart. You are my daughter. Who else would I spoil?"

The brutal truth hit me like a physical blow. The thug who ambushed me after school and beat me senseless had been hired by my own mother.

I remembered the day Tinsley first arrived at our house. She had spotted the silver locket around my neck and tried to rip it off without asking.

I stepped back to dodge her, causing Tinsley to trip and scrape her knee on the carpet.

My mother rushed over in panic, cradling Tinsley and soothing her for an hour. Without hearing a single word of my explanation, she struck the back of my knees with an iron rod, forcing me to kneel and apologize.

I had cried and offered to give Tinsley everything else I owned, except that one locket.

It was the sole proof that my parents had loved me once. It was the only warmth keeping me grounded in this cold world.

My mother had sneered at my tears.

"From now on, everything you have belongs to Tinsley. She is my daughter, and you are just her maid."

"If you ever upset her again, I will make you pay dearly!"

I remembered looking up and catching Tinsley's smug, mocking smirk from behind my mother's back.

Even so, I had bowed my head and obeyed.

Mom, I listened to you. I became her servant. Why couldn't that earn me even a tiny sliver of your love?

In the end, my death was caused by your own hands.

Watching Tinsley happily fasten the locket around her neck, my tears ran completely dry.

For the first time, I wanted to scream at my mother. If she hated me this much, why did she bring me into this world to suffer?

She couldn't hear me. Even if she could, she wouldn't care.

A dark curiosity rose within me. I wondered what face she would make when she finally discovered that I had died all alone in that empty house while she celebrated her foster child's birthday.

Would she feel guilt, grief, or just the same icy indifference?

Over the next two days, my mother rushed home from work every afternoon to stay with Tinsley.

She bought gorgeous princess dresses I had never even dared to look at.

She attended every school parent-teacher meeting Tinsley mentioned, even though she had skipped every single one of mine.

She even conquered her severe fear of heights just to ride the giant Ferris wheel with Tinsley at the local carnival.

Everything I had longed for was handed to someone else with effortless ease.

"Mommy, you are the best mom in the whole world. I love you so much."

"Maisie is your real daughter, though. Will you throw me away for her one day?"

Seeing the insecurity in Tinsley's eyes, my mother felt a pang of sympathy and pulled the girl into a tight hug.

"Don't be silly, Tinsley. You will always be my only daughter."

"As for Maisie, I abandoned her long ago. Whatever happens to her is none of my business."

Hearing those words out loud still tore my lingering spirit apart.

Right at that moment, her phone began to ring loudly.