LOGIN
Laura pushed the door to Alex's bedroom open and stopped frozen in shock.
Alex, her boyfriend, was busy making out with cassie her best friend. They were in a compromising position. The image seared itself into her brain, and Laura felt like she had been punched in the gut. "Alex!!!" She yelled, her voice shaking as tears started welling up in her eyes. The both of them quickly slid under the sheets, and Alex faced her with cold eyes. "Surprised?" He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by surprised ?" She asked. "Isn't it obvious? You no longer have my time. You're always busy with your brother and work. Honestly, George is going to die anyway. So, stop trying, " Alex snapped. Aurora's anger boiled over. She felt a surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins. She was trying her best to be optimistic about George's health, but Alex's words cut deep. She stormed to the side of his bed. Before he could react, her hand flew out and slapped him across the cheeks, sending his head tilting sideways. "You can say all you want about me, but don't you ever dare open your filthy mouth and talk about my brother," she snarled. With that, she turned and ran out of the apartment. The tears she was holding back had started streaming down her cheeks freely. She was late for work and couldn't find a cab. She quickly wiped her tears and took off on foot. After about 30 minutes of running, she arrived at the restaurant, gasping for breath. She quickly wiped her tears and composed herself before pushing the door open. The restaurant was meant for elites only. And the atmosphere was calm as usual. She spotted John her colleague, coming out from the kitchen, and she ran to him. "Is Mrs Miller around?" She asked. "Ehm... she came about an hour ago," John replied. "Oh God, I'm doomed," She muttered. "Quickly get dressed in your uniform before she comes out," John said as he glanced at the door leading to Mrs Miller office to see if she was coming. "Ok," Laura nodded, running into the staff's changing room. She quickly changed and emerged only to find Mrs Miller waiting for her, a Stern expression on her face. "And what's your excuse for today ?" Mrs Miller asked. "I'm... I'm sorry, please. I couldn't find a ride here," Aurora quickly apologized. "Sorry? Be sorry for yourself. You're fired!" Mrs Miller half yelled. Laura's eyes widened in horror. She couldn't lose this job. George's medical bills are there, and her rent was almost due. She lost her other jobs last week, and this was the only one she had left. "Please don't do this, Ma'am. I really need the money for my brother's hospital bills, please, I'm begging you," Aurora fell on her knees pleading. "I don't care. I won't have you coming to my restaurant late every single time and always trying to cook up an excuse or an apology. That's it. Take off my uniform and leave these premises now!" Mrs Miller yelled. Aurora searched her face to see if it held a single remorse, but she saw none. All she saw was anger and hate. Right from the start, Mrs Miller didn't like her, but she tried her best to please the old witch but couldn't. Fresh tears start rolling down her cheeks as she grabs Mrs Miller's legs. "Please don't do this to me. Please ma'am. My brother's life is in your hands, I need this job, please," Aurora cried. "Get those filthy hands of me. Your freaking brother's life isn't in my hands," Mrs Miller snapped, shaking Aurora off her leg. "Leave for the last time, or I'll call the cops," She threatened. Laura knew that was it for her. She was officially jobless and heartbroken. She changed back into her casual clothes and left the restaurant reluctantly. Her mind was messed up as different thoughts ran through it. She didn't even know whether to go home or to the hospital to check on George. His cancer was surely eating him up. She was already owing the hospital, and his medication bills were the only thing she was able to clear. Her phone rang from her pocket, disrupting her thoughts. Without checking the caller's ID, she brought the phone out and answered the call before placing it on her ear. "Hello," she whispered. "Hello, Miss Jacobs, this is Doctor Connor speaking," the caller said. Her eyes widened as she regretted picking the call. She was trying to avoid any call from the hospital lately because of the bills. "Ehm...Doc... Doctor... Connor. How may I help you?"Aurora stuttered. "You have not been picking up my calls, but thank goodness you did today. George's condition has taken a turn for the worst, and we need to perform an urgent transplant. One of his organs is down," Doctor Connor informed. "How much will it cost," Aurora asked, knowing fully well they'll ask for money. "$7,000" Doctor Connor replied. Her eyes instantly widened. Where was she going to get that amount from, she bearly had $2,000 on her. She quickly ended the call and shoved her phone back into her pocket. This was it. She was finally hopeless. She couldn't watch George die, but on second thought, she couldn't do anything currently. A thought suddenly crossed her mind, and she stared at the story building ahead of her. "If I can't watch you die, I might as well die before you," she muttered, proceeding into the building. She cried as she ran up the stairs leading to the rooftop. All the memories she had with George came playing back in her head in vivid flashes. More tears fell from her eyes as she got to the rooftop. The night breeze was cold as it blew by, pushing her hair forward, making it cover her face. She quickly tucked her hair behind her ears, approaching the edge. "I'm sorry, George," she mumbled, closing her eyes. Just as was about to jump, a muscular hand encircled around her waist, pulling her back. "Ahhhhh!" She screamed as they both fell backward, with she landing on top of him.“What if I mess it up?” Lily asked, sounding scared now instead of angry. “What if I’m toodamaged to have a normal relationship with anyone?”“Then we’ll work through it,” I said. “Nobody’s perfect, Lily. We all have issues and baggagebut that doesn’t mean we can’t try.”Lily looked around her apartment, then back at me. “I don’t have anything to offer you. Nomoney, no home, no job. I’m a mess.”“I don’t care about any of that,” I said. “I just want to know you.”“Why?” Lily asked, voice breaking. “Why would you want to know someone like me?”“Because you’re my sister,” I said simply. “And I think if things had been different, we wouldhave been best friends.”That made Lily cry harder, and I sat down next to her on the mattress and put my armaround her. She didn’t pull away, which felt like progress.“I’ve been so angry at you,” Lily sobbed. “I’ve hated you for having everything I didn’t.”“I know,” I said. “And I don’t blame you for that.”“But it’s not your fault,
I couldn’t speak because seeing Lily standing there looking exactly like me was so overwhelming that my brain just stopped working, and all I could do was stare at her while she stared back with those eyes identical to mine but filled with so much anger.“Are you going to say something or just stand there gaping like a fish?” Lily asked, her tone harsh but with something underneath that sounded like pain.“I…” I started, but my voice came out shaky. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I wanted to meet you.”“Did you now?” Lily said and crossed her arms over her chest. “And what exactly did you want to say to me? ‘Sorry your life was terrible while mine was perfect’? ‘Sorry our parents chose you over me’?”“That’s not what happened,” I said, feeling Scott’s hand on my back, which was reassuring.“Can we come in and talk? I have something to show you.”Lily looked at all of us standing in the hallway then shrugged. “Why not? It’s not like I have anything better to
Two days after Lily sent that text message about meeting alone, Scott’s security team finally tracked down where she was staying because she made a mistake and used her phone near a cell tower that pinged her location. Scott came into my room looking serious and told me they found her.“Where is she?” I asked immediately because I’d been waiting for this moment even though Iwas terrified of it.“She’s staying in an apartment building on the east side of the city,” Scott said, holding his phone up showing me a map with a red dot on it. “It’s not a great neighborhood, and the building looks pretty run down from the street view.”“When are we going?” I asked and started getting up from the bed where I’d been reading.“We’re not going,” Scott said firmly. “I’m going with Marcus and James, and you’re stayinghere where it’s safe.”I felt anger flare up in my chest because of course Scott would try to cut me out of this. “No way. I’m coming with you.”“Absolutely not,”
The next morning, Laura woke up to find Scott already awake and on his phone, looking at something that made his jaw tighten.“What’s wrong?” Laura asked as she sat up in bed.“Detective Chen sent over more information about Lily’s background,” Scott said without looking away from his phone. “It’s not good.”Laura felt her stomach drop. “What did he find?”Scott finally looked at her, and his expression was serious. “Lily spent her entire childhood bouncing between foster homes. She was never adopted because of her heart condition and the medical expenses that came with it. She had three surgeries by the time she was ten years old and spent months at a time in hospitals.”“Oh God,” Laura whispered because that meant their parents’ attempt to save Lily’s life by giving her up for adoption had completely backfired.“It gets worse,” Scott continued. “According to the records, some of the foster homes she was placed in were investigated for abuse and neglect. She ran a
“Probably,” Scott said. “I learned early on that people leave or die or blame you for thingsthat aren’t your fault, so it’s better to not need anyone or let anyone get close.”“But you let me close,” Laura pointed out.“I know,” Scott said, pulling her tighter against him. “And that terrifies me because I don’tknow what I would do if something happened to you.”Laura pressed her face against his chest and listened to his heartbeat, thinking about howsimilar their situations were, even though the details were different.“We’re both survivors,” Laura said quietly. “We both lived while our twins didn’t get to havethe same life we had.”“But neither of us asked for that,” Scott said. “And neither of us deserves to feel guilty aboutit.”“Do you still feel guilty?” Laura asked. “About Matthew?”“Every day,” Scott admitted. “Even though I know logically it wasn’t my fault, I still wonderwhat he would have been like and what it would have been like to grow up with a brother
She continued reading.“Margaret told us that Lily had been placed into the foster care system and that she was being cared for by the state until a new adoptive family could be found,” Scott continued.“Your father and I immediately tried to get Lily back, but Margaret told us that we had signed away our parental rights and that there was nothing we could do. We hired a lawyer, but he said the adoption contract we signed was ironclad and that we had no legal way to get Lilyback.”Scott turned to the last page. “We spent years trying to find out where Lily was and how she was doing, but the adoption agency wouldn’t tell us anything. Eventually, Margaret Sullivan disappeared and the agency closed down. We never found out what happened to Lily or if she ever got the medical treatment she needed.”Laura was sobbing now because her parents hadn’t deliberately abandoned Lily, they had been tricked into giving her up, then blocked from getting her back.“Every day of my







