That night, I don’t sleep well. Every time I close my eyes, I see Virginia curled up with my husband, making me a stranger in my own house. At seven, I drag myself out of bed and pull on a tunic and matching pants. My reflection in the mirror looks like a ghost—pale skin, dark circles, hijab hanging loose around my shoulders. The house is quiet when Ie downstairs. Jasper’s already gone, but there’s a note on the kitchen counter in his neat handwriting: “Had to leave for a meeting. We’ll talk tonight.” Talk. Like that’s going to fix anything. I crumble the note and throw it away. The drive to my parents’ house feels endless. Every red light is a distraction, more time to recall Virginia’s words, to stress over what they want to talk about. Mama opens the door before I knock, pulling me into a hug that smells like cardamom and jasmine. I didn’t realize how much I needed this until her warmth seeps into me. “Habibti, you look tired. Are you sleeping enough?” “I’m fine, Mama.” The liees easily. I’ve had plenty of practice. “What did you want to talk about?” Baba appears behind her, his usually stern face soft with something I can’t read. “Come in, ya rohi. Let’s talk inside.” They lead me to the living room where I’ve spent countless hours doing homework. The same cream-colored sofa, the same family photos on the mantle, the same sense of security I’ve always felt. But today something is off. “Would you like tea?” Mama asks, already moving toward the kitchen. She’s nervous, which is unsettling. “Just tell me what’s going on. You’re both acting strange.” My parents exchange a look across the room and my stomach clenches. Baba sits across from me, his weathered hands sped together. “There’s something we need to tell you. Something important about our family.” “Oh God, is someone sick?” My eyes swivel between them. “Is it—” “No, nothing like that.” Mama returns with mint tea, her movements quick and nervous. “It’s about Virginia.” I don’t want to know anything rted to the woman who’s destroying my marriage, still, I ask, “What about Virginia?” just to be polite. If she’s the one sick, should I be happy or sympathetic? I want to be happy, but I know my parents won’t be pleased. I guess I’ll just pretend to be sad, then… Another look passes between them. The kind of silent conversation they’ve perfected after thirty years of marriage. The foreboding feeling in my gut grows stronger. “You know we’ve always loved Virginia like our own,” Mama says softly. “From the moment Jasper introduced her to us.” “She’s a sweet girl,” I manage, though the words taste bitter. “Very needy. Jasper abandoned me on a highway because of herst night.” Silence. I frown. Why aren’t they outraged that their daughter was left alone in the middle of nowhere? “Habibti, her health isn’t good. I heard she had a panic attack?” Mama reaches for my hand. “That’s right. With her condition, anything can happen. It’s understandable Jasper went to her,” Baba nods. I stare at them, with a sinking feeling in my heart. “Let me get this straight. You think it’s reasonable for your pregnant daughter to be abandoned on a highway in the middle of the night for another woman?” Awkward silence. “That’s what I thought.” I grab my purse. “I’m done with this.” Whatever this is and more than ready to be out of here. Like is like. But surely, even fondness must have a limit? How can they say it’s reasonable that Jasper abandoned me for Virginia? Are they out of their minds? “Habibti.” Baba catches my hand. “Listen to me. Virginia isn’t a bad person. She needs us because she’s never had a real family before. Her adoptive parents were difficult.” Here we go again. Virginia’s tragic background, her cruel family, her lonely childhood. It’s why everyone treats her like porcin. But, again… “What does this have to do with me?” Mama sits beside me, grabbing hold of my other hand. Now I’m caught between them, unable to leave even if I want to. “Last week, Dr. Rashid came to check on Virginia after one of her attacks.” “He noticed something,” Baba continues. “A birthmark on her shoulder. Very distinctive.” My mouth goes dry. “Okay?” “The same birthmark our daughter had.” The words don’t make sense at ?rst. I stare at my parents, waiting for the punchline, for someone to exin the joke I’m missing. “Wait, did you say daughter? What daughter?” Mama’s eyes fill with tears. “The daughter we lost twenty-three years ago. The baby who was taken from the hospital.” The room starts spinning. I grip the arm of the sofa, trying to anchor myself to something solid. No, no, no. This can’t be going in the direction I suspect. It’s impossible! Virginia and I can’t possibly be sisters! “I don’t understand.” I rasp, breathing ragged. “What are you trying to say?” “She was three days old,” Mama whispers. “Someone took her from the nursery. The police searched for months…” “You never told me about another baby.” “It was too painful,” Baba says. “When we finally adopted you, you became our whole world. We didn’t want to burden you with our grief.” “Wait.” Adopted? “I’m adopted?” “From birth,” Mama says quickly. “Your birth mother was very young. She chose us because she wanted you to have a good life.” Everything I thought I knew crumbles. Every family photo, every story about their pregnancy with me, every time they said I had Baba’s eyes—lies. They were all lies. “So Virginia is…” “Our daughter,” Baba finishes. “She’s our biological daughter.” The baby kicks hard against my ribs, as if protesting this revtion with me. I press my hands to my belly, trying to breathe through the panic. “We had Dr. Rashid run DNA tests,” Mama continues. “There’s no doubt.” “How long have you known?” “A week.” A week. They’ve known for a week, and they’re just telling me now. “We wanted to tell you together,” Baba says. “We wanted to exin—” “Exin what?” I stand up too fast, ck spots dancing across my vision. “Exin that you’ve been lying to me my whole life? That the girl destroying my marriage is actually your real daughter?” “Scarlett, please—” “Does she know?” Silence. “Does Virginia know?” I repeat, my voiceing out harsher. “We told her yesterday,” Mama admits quietly. Yesterday. Oh, God! While I was crying on Chloe’s shoulder, were they having a reunion dinner with Virginia? “This changes everything,” Baba says. “Virginia is our daughter. She belongs here. But you’ll always be our daughter too.” But I see it in their eyes. The shift that’s already happening. The way they look at each other when they mention Virginia’s name. The pride in Baba’s voice when he says “our daughter.” I’m not their daughter. Never have been. I was just a constion prize for the one they lost. “She’s moving in tomorrow,” Mama says suddenly. “We…we decided to give her your room.” My room. The room I always believed was mine, apparently turns out to be in fact Virginia’s. And all this time, they have been waiting for her toe back. “Where does that leave me?” “You’re married now, habibti. You have your own home, your own family.” My own family. Are they referring to the husband who can’t stand to be in the same room as me and who lights up whenever their daughter is mentioned? “What about my inheritance? My trust fund? The jewelry you’ve been saving for me?” The silence stretches too long. And that says everything. “Those things… they were always meant for our daughter,” Baba says carefully. “Our biological daughter.” “I see.” And I do see. Perfectly clearly. I was never their daughter in the true sense of the word. That’s why it was so easy for Virginia to insert herself in my life. And now that they know she’s their biological daughter? It will only be a matter of time before I get reced, forgotten, abandoned in a corner exactly the way Jasper abandoned me on that highwayst night. Virginia isn’t just taking my husband—she’s taking my entire life. At that thought, another thought urs to me. One so chilling, it makes my blood freeze. “We love you, Scarlett,” Mama says desperately. “That will never change.” Ha! It already has changed. “I need to go.” I say, no longer hearing their words, desperate to confirm my suspicion. “Please don’t leave. Stay for lunch,” Baba says. “This is good news. We’re aplete family now.” Complete. As if I was never enough to make them whole. I walk toward the door on unsteady legs, my parents trailing behind me with protests and promises. But their words fall on deaf ears, sounding hollow, and distant. “Give us time to adjust,” Mama calls as I reach my car. “This is new for all of us.” I don’t reply. I don’t even say a word to them as I drive away without looking back, my hands shaking on the steering wheel. At the ?rst red light, I pull out my phone and call Jasper. He answers on the fourth ring, his voice distracted. “Scarlett? I’m in a meeting.” “I know about Virginia.” Silence. “I know she’s my parents’ biological daughter. The only thing I want to ask you now is ‘did you know?” “Scarlett, I can exin—” I close my eyes, suddenly feeling like a joke. “So you did know. You knew and you didn’t tell me.” “Virginia told me yesterday. She was scared about how you’d react.” “You helped her hide it from me. You let her sleep in our house, wear my clothes, all while treating me like a fool.” “It’s not like that.” “Then what is it like, Jasper? Because from where I’m sitting, it looks like everyone I love has been conspiring against me.” I snap. The line goes quiet, and this time I don’t even care to confirm if he’s still on the line or not. “We’ll talk when I get home,” he says ?nally. “No,” I chuckle. “There is no longer anything to talk about between us.” I hang up without waiting for his response and stare at my phone until the screen goes dark. After what feels like forever, for the first ever, I find the strength to do something I should have done months ago. I call a divorcewyer.<fnc1d1> Newest update provided by find~novel</fnc1d1>