Chapter 1
My mom, Laura Miller, was the true heiress of the Miller family before she was kidnapped into the Appalachian Hills.
And before she was taken, she had already been married and had a two–year–old son.
She was then sold to a man in his late fifties, and I was born from that union.
When I was seven, the Miller family finally came with the police and found their way into the mountains.
Overcome with emotion, she clung desperately to her son, Ethan, now ten years old.
But when her eyes fell on me, her question to the police was cold and simple. “Can I… not take this child back with me?”
I saw my uncle, David Miller, and my ten–year–old brother, Ethan, for the first time then. Their faces were contorted with disgust and
rage.
“A child of that bastard? How could the Miller family ever acknowledge her?”
I was consumed by fear, trembling uncontrollably. My small hand secretly fisted a corner of her coat, too terrified to speak or look up.
Cameras flashed everywhere, aimed straight at me.
Along with the polite and the Millers, hordes of reporters had also swarmed the village upon hearing the news.
My fingers trembled violently as I gripped my mom’s clothes. Tears pricked my eyes, but I bit them back with all my strength, refusing
to let them fall.
The police officer was silent for a long moment before finally responding, his voice heavy with resignation
“Her father colluded with the kidnappers. He’s already been arrested.”
“You are now her only remaining legal guardian.”
The desperate, pleading light in my mother’s eyes died, replaced by utter despair. Then, her control snapped.
“But I don’t want her!”
“Eight years of my life have been destroyed! Must I now take her back and be reminded of that pain for the rest of my life?”
As the words ended, her tears finally fell, her face a mask of anguish and despair. She lifted a hand, perhaps to cover her face, but the movement made her aware of my small hand still clutching her coat.
Her reddened eyes flicked downward, meeting my terrified gaze. And in that instant, she seemed to completely shatter.
For the first time, she struck me.
With a violent shove, she pushed me back hard, her face distorted, her voice trembling.
“I don’t want yu! Don’t you understand? I don’t want you!”
“Stop following me! If no one else will take you, then just die!”
“Why–why should I have to-”
Her voice broke into sobs. The rest of her words never made it out.
I stumbled backward and crashed to the ground, the back of my head slamming against the dirt.
A buzzing filled my skull, my vision blurring for a long moment.
Above me stood countless adults–reporters, police officers, the Miller family.
Every one of them stared down at me with strange eyes, a mixture of scrutiny and disgust.
One of the officers stepped forward, helped me up, and said to my mother sternl, “Ma’am, calm down.”
Chapter 1
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Yet even his gaze was filled with pity for her.
My uncle David–the man in the suit, my legal guardian–stormed forward, his voice thick with fury as he defended her.
“Why should my sister have to calm down?”
“She has endured eight years of hell! Why should she be forced to raise that monster’s child? Why can’t the girl be sent to an orphanage?”
“Laws should have warmth and humanity!”
And beside her, a ten–year–old boy with refined features–my half–brother, Ethan Miller–clung to our mother’s arms, his voice sharp
with anger.
“The Millers will never accept the child of a kidnaper!”
