Chapter 1

1 I was burning the candle at both ends, working three dead-end jobs just to keep my biological parents afloat.

I wanted to ease their burden, you know?

But all the ramen and skipped meals caught up with me, and I ended up with stomach cancer at freakin' twenty-three.

Then, when I finally went to use my savings for treatment, I discovered my folks had already swiped the ten grand I'd been killing myself to save.

"Honey, we had to use it to pay off some debts. We're tapped out right now. Can it wait a month?" Mom pleaded.

I glanced at the doctor's note, the one screaming that I needed to be admitted, like, yesterday, and just nodded. What else could I do?

That night, I was out delivering food to some ritzy mansion, a party in full swing, and I spotted my parents.

They were all smiles, fawning over some girl decked out in designer clothes, celebrating her birthday.

They were dropping cash like it was confetti, spending more in one night than my hospital bills would ever cost.

Turns out, they're loaded.

The whole "debt" thing was just some BS test to see if I was worthy of their affection, the long-lost daughter they accidentally swapped at birth.

...

I don't even remember how I got home.

I must have been walking in a daze the entire time.

I just remember staring at the cracked paint on my ceiling, feeling numb, and then, I heard the jingle of keys in the lock.

I sat up, watching my parents walk in.

They'd ditched the expensive suits and dresses from the party, back in their usual drab work uniforms, looking like any other middle-class couple.

"Oh, hey, Jess. Home early. Skip work today?" My mom asked.

I forced a smile, "Yeah, just a headache. Came home to crash."

"A headache?"

Mom dropped her grocery bag and rushed over, her hand on my forehead.

"No fever...What happened? Did you take anything?" She asked with genuine concern.

I lied, looking down, "Yeah, I took some ibuprofen."

Dad picked up the bag and handed it to me.

"Happy Birthday, honey. Your mom and I don't have a lot to get you."

"We grabbed a cupcake, you know, something small."

I glanced inside.

The cupcake was perfectly decorated. I'd never even seen one like it before.

Before, I would have been touched, maybe even cried, thinking about how they were making an effort despite being strapped for cash.

Now, it just felt like a slap in the face.

I delivered those cupcakes.

The little princess at the party ordered them on a whim, then turned up her nose when I dropped them off.

"Ugh, this cheap stuff? Just toss it," she'd said.

And now my parents were giving it to me?

And not even the real one, but the freebie the bakery threw in?

Was that all I was worth to them, a freebie?