After being missing for 18 years, Mom and Dad finally found me. Jillian Swain, the fake heiress, crumples to the floor and starts sobbing.

"Goodbye, Mom and Dad. Thanks for taking care of me all these years. But now that Wanda is home, I'm sure you don't have any use for me anymore."

Mom and Dad hug her, completely heartbroken. "Sweetheart, don't talk like that! You're our only real daughter, now and always!"

Even Harvey Schumer, the guy I was promised to as a kid, declares his love for her. "Forget who you really are. You're the only one I love."

They're all tripping over each other to fuss over Jillian. They even throw a birthday celebration for her dog while I'm barely hanging on after a car crash.

So I pack up my things, accept the space agency's offer, and slip away into a five-year confidential satellite research project.

But the whole family freaks out the second I'm gone, turning the country upside down, searching for me.

The day I got out of the hospital after the car crash, I signed a confidentiality agreement for the research program. A space agency staff member grabbed my hand excitedly and said, "Welcome aboard.

"And I can't stress this enough—this research is classified, so not a word to anyone. You'll be totally off the grid for the five years you're involved."

He gave me three days to say goodbye to my family. I gave him a faint smile and said, "I'm an orphan. There's nobody to say goodbye to."

I dealt with the discharge paperwork by myself, and when I finally got home, Mom and Dad were glaring at me with grim looks.

Mom clenched her jaw, her voice tight with fury. "Wanda! Where the hell have you been for three months without so much as coming home?

"Jilly stayed up half the night waiting for you to start the celebration, and you didn't even bother to show up. Do you have any clue how disappointed she was?"

Dad's stare was freezing, his voice flat and cold. "Looks like she's gotten too full of herself to listen to us anymore. If that's how it is, she can pack her things and leave sooner rather than later."

Three months ago, I was in a car crash and was barely hanging on, but when the hospital called my family, all they heard was the busy tone.

They didn't give a damn if I made it or not. Yet now they had the audacity to guilt-trip me for skipping Jillian's dog's birthday.

I just didn't get it. I was their real daughter. So why did they act like I meant less to them than some adopted daughter?

I only had a few days left before leaving, so I wasn't about to start a fight. I just muttered, "I didn't see the message. I was busy."

Dad slammed his hand on the table, ready to blow up, until Jillian Swain floated down the stairs in her high-end outfit. Mom and Dad had gotten it for her.

She put on this delicate, understanding face and said, "Mom, Dad, Wanda's probably swamped with her studies. She is working on her Ph.D.

"You know how intense research can be. I was only throwing a small thing for my pet's birthday. It's not like it's a huge deal."

Dad snorted dismissively. "Ph.D.? If she can't even figure out that family comes first, what's the damn point? She should just quit now!"

I chuckled quietly but kept my mouth shut. I never made it back because Jillian had someone run me down at the campus entrance. The driver took off right away, and I passed out on the spot.

Someone rushed me to the hospital, and by the time I woke up, three months had gone by. Jillian just couldn't stand the idea of me being at every gathering with Mom and Dad.

"Just put up with me a little longer. I'll be out of your hair in a few days anyway," I said.

Mom stopped dead, then scowled. "Where else would you go?"

She was sure I had nowhere to turn. And why wouldn't she think that? Before they took me back home, I'd been stuck in that shabby, run-down orphanage.

Jillian's lips twisted into a smug smile, but her expression was all fake misery by the time she settled in beside Mom and Dad.

"Wanda probably doesn't want to be anywhere I am. I shouldn't be taking up her space. Maybe I should go."

Then, whether on purpose or not, she tilted just enough for the diamond necklace around her throat to glint under the light, its blinding sparkle proving it wasn't some cheap trinket.

It was Mom's favorite piece of jewelry. When I was little, before I went missing, she used to tell me, "Wanda, this is our family heirloom. One day, when you're older, it'll be yours."

And now? It was dangling from Jillian's neck.

Mom shot me a look and came up with a clumsy excuse. "Jilly wouldn't stop asking for this necklace, so I gave it to her. You're the older sister.

"Just let her have it, okay? Don't make it a bigger deal than it is."

"Whatever. Hand out your stuff to whoever you want," I replied flatly.

It wasn't the first time I'd heard such words. If Jillian wanted something, I was expected to hand it over. By now, it was practically second nature.

I guessed they thought I'd put up a fight because the whole room seemed shocked at how easily I gave in.

But Jillian said, "Wanda, I know I wasn't supposed to take your stuff, but I loved it so much.

"You've got everything in this house. Can't I just keep this one little necklace? You don't mind, do you?"

Dad sighed and ran his fingers through her hair. "You're so thoughtful that it breaks my heart. Haven't we made it clear? You're our only real daughter."

Jillian wiped her tears, looking so pathetic that Mom and Dad fell for it even harder. The three of them were so wrapped up in their little moment that nobody even remembered I was there.

It was like they'd all forgotten Jillian was just my replacement—some orphan they picked up to make themselves feel better after losing me.

For 18 years, while I was gone, Mom and Dad had dumped all the love that should've been mine straight into her lap.

The second Jillian huffed, they'd tense up. If she started crying, it was like their whole world was about to fall apart.

The night I came home, Jillian couldn't take the truth. She broke down sobbing, and before anyone could stop her, she was up on the roof's ledge.

"Nobody wants me! I'm just some orphan nobody cares about! Let me die! Then Mom, Dad, and Wanda can be happy together forever!" she screamed, her voice torn apart with pain.

They freaked out, scrambling to talk her into coming down. After that, they watched her like hawks, never giving her a second alone.

Mom and Dad kept tempting Jillian with fruits and snacks to get her to eat, but nobody even looked at me; even though I was so hungry, I felt lightheaded.

Then, one day, they offhandedly mentioned going on a camping trip in the middle of nowhere and decided to bring me.

I was so surprised by the sudden attention that I went along, only for all three of them to ditch me there without a word.

I made it through a whole week in the wilderness with no way to call for help before I finally dragged myself back home, filthy, starving, and nearly frozen.

Mom and Dad were sitting there, watching TV with Jillian. They didn't even look at me.

"We just wanted to teach you a lesson, to make you realize this family is Jilly's now. She's been ours for 18 years.

"You could never measure up to what she means to us. From now on, you let her have her way in everything. No fighting her on it. Do you get it?"

I got it. That day, I realized I didn't have a home anymore.

…

In the morning, after I packed my luggage and came downstairs, Jillian walked up to me, holding a bowl of creamy mushroom soup. She beamed at me.

"Wanda, try the breakfast I made for you."

I looked at her fake grin, didn't say a word, and moved past her into the kitchen. Suddenly, she slipped, and the scalding soup dumped all over her.

Mom and Dad came running when they heard the commotion. Their hearts shattered at the sight of the bright, angry burns on her hands.

"We have a maid to handle the cooking! You've always been hopeless with fire. What were you thinking, messing with the stove?"

Jillian hung her head. She stayed quiet for a long moment before finally glancing up at me.

"Wanda texted me last night and demanded I cook for her. I didn't want to make her mad, so I couldn't refuse. I woke up early this morning to prepare everything. I guess I'm just hopelessly clumsy."

My heart sank. Before I could even explain, Dad charged over and hit me square across the face.

"Wanda, is this how you push Jilly around when no one's looking? She lost her mom and dad when she was little, spent years starving and shivering, and never had anything good.

"You should be bending over backward to make it up to her! You rude bastard! You're rotten to the bone!"

Jillian played up her act, fake-begging Mom and Dad. "Please go easy on Wanda. So what if she's nasty to me? I'll put up with it as long as I can stay with you."

By then, they'd already decided I was the problem, so why bother fighting it? I just walked off to the kitchen to fix myself some breakfast.

Dad was on the verge of exploding when Harvey Schumer suddenly appeared at the door. Harvey was my childhood sweetheart—the guy I'd been promised to since we were kids—and we'd always been tight.

But he scowled as soon as he spotted the bandage on Jillian's fingers. "Wanda, did you hurt Jilly again?"

Jillian had pulled this wounded act more than once. Every time, she'd go running to him, Mom, and Dad, crying. Harvey was so used to it by now that anytime she got hurt, he just assumed it was me.

"It wasn't me. She burned herself," I muttered.

Harvey didn't buy a word. "You definitely told her to cook, and that's how this mess started! Cut the crap. Do you really think I don't have you figured out?

"Playing dumb like some harmless bookworm when the truth is you're just an ungrateful snake! The Swains were nice enough to take you in, so stop driving a wedge between Jilly and us!"

He patched up Jillian's hand, then pulled his fancy car up to the door just to drive her to work. Even Mom and Dad got in on it, trailing behind in their own car like some kind of worried escort.

Meanwhile, I just went to the kitchen and ate breakfast alone in the empty house.

…

The day before I left, I went to an academic conference with my advisor, Andrew Faucher. Out of nowhere, I spotted Mom and Dad there with Jillian. Harvey was by Jillian's side, his arm snug around her waist.

Dad introduced Jillian to the crowd at the venue, brimming with pride. "This is my darling daughter. She's unbelievably brilliant. She started her own tech company, and it's going public any day now."

The moment the words left his mouth, the room erupted with praise, everyone gushing over how incredible Jillian was doing.

Someone piped up, "I heard you actually found that missing kid from way back. How come you didn't bring her along today?"

Dad's face stiffened. "Who told you that? That's complete nonsense."

Mom flashed a smile and threw an arm around Jillian's shoulders, brushing it off. "We've only ever had one daughter. Did another one just pop out of nowhere?

"It must've been a relative visiting or something. You know how people get the wrong idea all the time."

They fought to erase me like I was some dirty secret like admitting I existed would ruin them. I stepped forward, wine glass in hand.

My family had been full of laughs and easy chatter, but they went dead silent when they saw me.

Jillian sounded surprised. "Wanda? Why are you here? Today's academic conference is strictly invite-only. Did you steal someone's invitation?"

Her voice faded like she was embarrassed just being near me.

Mom looked uncomfortable when she noticed me, but she knew she was in the wrong for keeping me in the dark. "Wanda, don't make a scene. We brought Jilly here for business. Her company needs to secure a patent."

Then she caught sight of Professor Faucher standing behind me, and suddenly, she looked thrilled.

"Professor Faucher, we're very interested in that latest aerospace patent from your university. Any chance Jilly's company could license it?"

Professor Faucher glanced at me. "Wanda invented that patent. You'll need her permission."

Jillian's eyes flashed with pure venom, but she covered it fast, sounding disappointed. "What do we do now? Wanda hates me. There's no way she'll hand that patent over."

The second Dad heard that, his expression went dark. He dragged me aside at the venue and said, "Wanda, switch the inventor on that patent to Jilly now.

"You're her older sister, and you've never given her a decent gift in her life. She needs this patent now. Just give it to her.

"It's wasted on you anyway. You'd never make anything of it."

I almost snorted. What made this any better than robbery?

Without hesitation, I replied, "If she wants it, she can buy it. I'm not handing it over for nothing."

Dad jabbed a finger at me, too furious to form a word.

Mom's face was pure disappointment as she stared at me. "Wanda, we're family. How could you do this to Jilly? You sneaked into this conference just to force us to admit you're our daughter before everyone, didn't you?

"Fine, here's the deal—give Jilly the patent, and we'll give you the acknowledgment you're after."

I couldn't believe they'd sink this low. I smirked. "You really think I want anything to do with this family?"

Before they could say another word, I turned and left. As I stepped out of the venue, I noticed a huge plush bear sitting in a store window. Suddenly, I remembered how I used to love those plush bears when I was a kid, and I'd nagged Dad nonstop to buy me one.

He lifted me up onto his shoulders back then, chuckling as he watched me clutch a plush bear like it was the most amazing thing in the world.

"I'll buy you whatever you want, Wanda. If you love it that much, I'll get you 100 of them and stuff the whole house with them."

Little me had squealed with joy, hugging him and clapping my hands. Right then, I was sure nobody could ever love me the way Dad did, and I thought that would never change.

But after just 18 years of me being gone, everyone who ever cared about me had been snatched up by some adopted daughter. I hated everything about it, but there wasn't a thing I could do.

Jillian was right on my heels when she noticed me eyeing the storefront. She let out a dramatic sigh as she looked at the toys in the window. "Those plush toys are so exquisite. I'd kill to get one like that for my birthday."

The second Dad heard her, he whipped out his phone and called his assistant, Bernard Nealon. "Get everything in the store boxed up and delivered to the house for Jilly."

Jillian faked a little pause, then asked, "Isn't buying out the whole store kind of over the top?"

Dad ran his fingers through her hair. "Not at all. As long as it makes you happy, nothing else counts. Why wait till your birthday? They're yours now."

Jillian lit up right away. "Thanks, Dad!"

Just then, Harvey helped Mom step out from behind me. He shot me an eye roll. "What's with the staring? Did you really think Mr. Swain would get you anything?

"Yeah, keep dreaming. You were never family, and you'll never be Jilly. No one could take her place."

They hopped in their car and peeled out, leaving me alone outside the venue.

The wind bit into me. I tugged my coat closer and waved down a cab home. All my stuff had been thrown outside, dumped across the doorstep like garbage.

The maid looked sorry as she said, "Mr. and Mrs. Swain told me you have to leave and never come back."

I didn't charge in to yell at them. I just packed up quietly, then walked away with my things.

That very night, I got on a plane out of town, heading to a hidden research base run by the National Space Agency.

Just before I left, I texted everyone, "I, Wanda Swain, am officially done with the Swains for good and by choice."

I was about to turn off my phone when a message popped up. It was Jillian.

"Wanda, Mom and Dad know you're leaving. They want to talk to you."