Chapter 2
760 Words
Mother came to my room that evening. She wanted to transfer me into Melody's class.
"It'll put my mind at ease, knowing you're together."
Maybe it was the cameras. Ever since the installation, Melody had stopped causing obvious trouble. Now she performed concern like a part she was trying to land in a play.
One dinner, the table was spread with far too much food. A platter of seared duck breast sat at the center, glistening with chili. Melody reached across and placed her portion onto my plate with exaggerated care.
"She was out there suffering for over a decade because of me," Melody said, her voice thick with manufactured tenderness. "I want her to have mine. I can just eat vegetables."
Her theatrics made my stomach turn, but my parents melted. Holden practically glowed with admiration.
Every time she made this kind of gesture, Mother would beam. "Look how mature she's become. She's really stepping into the role."
Holden would jump in immediately. "None of this is your fault. Here, take my portion. Don't let anyone make you feel guilty."
I pressed my lips together. "Is the family in financial trouble? Are we rationing portions now?"
Father slammed his knife against the table. "Enough. She's trying to reach out to you. You spit on the gesture, and now you mock this family's standing?"
I looked down at the meat on my plate, coated in chili flakes. I set my fork down. "I'm finished."
They never remembered. I couldn't handle spice. Every dish on that table had been prepared the way Melody liked it, drenched in chili oil.
Father assumed I was sulking and started shouting.
Melody added her soft, trembling voice to the chaos. "Dad, she hasn't eaten anything. Let me make her a fresh plate and bring it to her. It's fine if she screams at me. It's fine if she hits me. I stole over a decade of her life. Of course, she hates me."
"Don't go near her. Let her starve."
And I did. For two full days. That's how long it took for Grandmother Thornton to visit and notice the gray pallor on my face.
She turned on Father with cold fury. "Have you lost your mind entirely? This child is your flesh and blood."
Father scrambled. "Mother, we haven't mistreated her. Wren, tell her. Have we mistreated you?"
I looked at the table. Every surface glistened red and orange. I said, without emotion, "I can't eat spice."
Father froze mid-breath.
Holden didn't even glance up from his plate. "Rinse it in water. Problem solved. There's no need to be dramatic."
He was right. I wasn't being dramatic. No one in that house cared how I felt, so feeling anything at all was a waste of energy.
I told Mother I didn't want to share a classroom with Melody. She asked me to try. She said I was being too cynical. We were family now, and family didn't hurt each other.
On my third day, someone accused me of stealing.
"Wren, you were the only one in the classroom during lunch. Did you maybe pick up Lily's necklace by mistake?" Melody stood beside my desk, her forehead creased with gentle, theatrical worry.
"It wasn't me." I shook my head, but the other students already had their verdict.
New transfers are easy prey. With Melody quietly feeding the fire, the outcome was never in doubt. She never made direct accusations. She simply planted suggestions and let the infection spread on its own.
"I heard she used to live on the streets."
"That explains it."
"Wait, I thought she was related to Melody."
"They say she's family, but look at them. Nothing alike. Probably some distant charity case the parents took in."
My parents had buried the truth to protect Melody's reputation. So the whole school assumed she was the real daughter, and I was a stray they had taken pity on.
I decided I was done letting that story stand.
"Her mother switched us at birth," I said, loud and flat. "I spent fifteen years in a place I was never supposed to be. I am my parents' real child. I have zero connection to her."
Melody's face drained completely. She swayed and let tears spill down her cheeks in perfect, elegant trails.
Before I could say another word, a hand cracked across my face.
Holden stood in the doorway, his eyes burning.
"I had no idea you were humiliating her in public, too," he said, his voice trembling with disgust. "You genuinely make me sick."
- Writer
