After high school graduation, Damian arranged for Anabelle to study abroad. It was my idea, really. Isabelle still convinced Anabelle was her biological daughter, had started stalking her. I had to take precautions.
sabelle waited outside our gate for two days until I finally returned from a vacation.
Aurora! Where did you send my daughter?” she shrieked, her eyes wild. “Where’s Anabelle? She’s not at sch
ool, she’s not at home, she’s not with you! Where is she?!”
She looked completely unhinged, lunging at me with her hands like claws. Damian pushed her to the ground
‘Your daughter? Anabelle has always been our daughter!” he said coldly.
sabelle tilted her head back and let out a chilling laugh. “Heh heh, you still don’t know, do you? All thos years ago, in the hospital, I switched our daughters.”
‘The child you’ve been cherishing all this time… she’s mine! And your precious little jewel has been trample on by everyone in the Carter family!”
Damian just smirked. “And you don’t know, do you? After I saw you switch them, I went in and switched ther right back.”
Isabelle’s laughter died in her throat.
I delivered the final blow, “You’ve been abusing your own daughter all these years, thinking everyone els was as stupid as you are.”
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A flicker of something–panic, realization–crossed her face. She clutched her head. “No, that’s impossible You’re lying!”
“Am I? Charity is the spitting image of you. You must have realized it years ago. You’ve just been lying to
yourself.”
My words hit their mark. Though she tried to deny it, her bluster faded.
couldn’t stand to look at her. After all these years, she was still the same selfish monster.
Charity?”
At the sound of my voice, Isabelle turned. Charity was standing behind a hedge, only emerging when I called
her name.
The moment she spoke, tears streamed down her face. “Mom… is that why you’ve beaten me all these
‘ears? Because you thought I wasn’t your real daughter?”
sabelle scrambled toward her, a torrent of desperate excuses pouring from her lips. “No, Charity, honey, that ; not it! It’s their fault! These bastards, they’re the ones who ruined my life!”
Charity turned and ran. Isabelle chased after her.
Damian and I looked at each other and shook our heads.
