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I Was the "Adopted" Kid They Trained

I Was the "Adopted" Kid They Trained

Short Story · Emotional Realism
By:  Tea PotatoCompleted
Language: English
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10Chapters
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Synopsis

Family Emotions

Biological Family

Bias

True and Fake Heiress

Familial Bond

Remorse Family

Plot Twists

I've never been one to take a loss. If my dad, Jared Ingram, buys a cake for my sister, Harper Ingram, I'll demand to have half of it. If my mom, Lindsay Sutton, buys a phone for my brother, Simon Ingram, I'll demand to buy a new digital tablet. When I'm eight, my whole famy goes on a trip, and once again, they forget to buy a ticket for me. I run out onto the main road and call the police using a passerby's phone, claiming that my parents have abandoned me. My parents, who have only just left, are forced to turn back. Mom is so furious that she throws my adoption papers at me. "Beth, you're adopted. What more do you want from me?" From that day onward, I stop fighting for what I want. To stay in this family, I try my best to please everyone. When Simon gets in trouble, I kneel in the snow and plead for him. When Harper doesn't want to do her homework, I stay up all night to help her finish it. My parents work hard, so I take care of all the house chores. When my aunt, Brianna Lane, visits us, she pulls Mom into the room and asks, "Lindsay, how did you pull this off? You gave Harper, your adopted daughter, 3,000 dollars a month, but only 300 dollars to your own daughter. Why doesn't Beth ever makes a fuss about it?" Mom lets out an arrogant little laugh. "That's easy. I just told Beth that she was adopted. Forget giving her less money. Even if I gave her nothing at all, she'd still be grateful to me."

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10 Chapters
Chapter 1
The fruit plate I was holding fell to the ground with a sharp clatter.The conversation in the room halted as I bent over to pick up the scattered grapes and oranges, my hands shaking.My mom, Lindsay Sutton's footsteps, grew closer, and she opened the door. When she noticed me squatting on the ground, her expression changed momentarily before returning to normal."Beth, why are you so clumsy? You can eat the ones that fell on the floor. Wash another batch and bring them over." She sounded perfectly calm, like nothing had happened at all.I looked up at her and, for the first time, really studied her features.My almond-shaped eyes and curved brows looked just like hers, but because I was so sure that I was adopted, I never dared to think about it that way.My aunt, Brianna Lane, poked her head out from behind Mom. A flicker of awkwardness appeared on her face when she saw me.I didn't say anything and walked to the living room.When I passed the dining room, Harper Ingram was
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Chapter 2
I hadn't been in the room long before Mom called me out to help her with dinner.When I was eight, I wasn't tall enough to reach the stove, so I could only peel garlic and wash vegetables for Mom.At nine, I started standing on a stool to cut up vegetables.By ten, Mom handed over all the kitchen work to me. She rarely praised me, but one time, she told me I was capable.Meanwhile, Harper, who was a year younger than me, lived like a princess. She didn't need to know the difference between scallions and chives. All she had to do was call out to Mom sweetly, and she'd get whatever she wanted.I started prepping the ingredients with practiced ease, working alone in the kitchen for four hours.By the time I served all 12 dishes, Simon and Harper were already seated, both on their phones. Not one of them even offered to help me.I had just sat down when Mom told me, "Beth, get some wine for your Uncle Seth."I did as I was told."Beth, Harper finished her drink. Pour her some frui
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Chapter 3
A week after the new semester started, the school announced that the dorm and textbook fees would cost 2,800 dollars altogether.The DNA test had already eaten up almost all the money I had, so after hesitating for a while, I finally picked up the courage to call Mom.When I told her what I wanted, there was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds."Why do you need money again? Didn't I just give 300 dollars last month?""That was for my living expenses. This is for tuition.""Ugh, fine. I'll transfer it to you later."I waited a whole week, but nothing came. So I called Mom again. "Mom, the tuition…""Beth, why is it that every time you call, you're asking for money? Harper's dance classes cost 4,000 dollars a semester, and Simon just signed up for driving school. Even though you're our adopted daughter, you're already an adult now. You can't just keep asking us for money."Maybe I stayed quiet for too long, because when Mom finally spoke again, her voice had tu
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Chapter 4
For the rest of the year, I stopped asking my parents for money and never went home again.They seemed to have forgotten about my living expenses too, and not once did they ask how I was doing.Watching my bank balance grow made me feel more confident that I could really leave them behind.Then the new year came.Before the new semester started, my family held a birthday celebration for Harper. This time, Mom cooked everything herself.My 22nd birthday had been less than a month earlier, and that day, I'd posted "Happy birthday to me" on my Instagram. Tanya and my coworkers from my part-time job liked that post, but not a single member of my family did.At first, I thought something was wrong with my phone. But when I was helping Dad adjust the font size, I noticed he'd hidden my posts from his feed.On the other hand, Harper was the only person he'd pinned at the top. Dad liked and commented on every post she made, then shared them to the family group chat.After the semester
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Chapter 5
After moving to Southia, I found a small apartment near the office. My landlady, Cate Moore, was a woman in her 60s. Her son had settled in another city, so she had an old place sitting empty and decided to rent it out.The rent was 1,200 dollars a month, and the place had one bedroom, a living room, and was only four bus stops from work.I didn't think too hard about it and signed a one-year lease right away.The company gave the new hires three days of training. There were four recent graduates in my group, including a local guy named Liam Ziegler.He'd interned at the company during his second year of grad school, so he was more familiar with the process than the rest of us.When Liam took us to the cafeteria for lunch, he mentioned, "Your first month's paycheck will be delayed, so you might only get half a month's pay at first. Once you're officially hired, though, the quarterly bonuses are pretty good. The design department gave out an average of 8,000 dollars per person last
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Chapter 6
It was September when I got a message from Harper on my old number. She wrote, "Beth, Mom wants to know when you're coming home. We're having a family dinner next month."I deleted her message.Two days later, Mom called my old number. It forwarded to my new number, so I picked it up.She yelled, "Beth, what the hell is wrong with you? Why didn't you reply to your sister's message? We're having a family dinner next month. Your dad wants you home. You're out of town, right? How much can a train ticket really cost you? Harper's been feeling stressed lately. You should come back and keep her company.""I'm not going back."There was a brief silence on the other end of the line."What do you mean by that?" Mom asked."Exactly what I said.""Yes, I lied about you being adopted, but all these years, we fed you, gave you a place to live, and paid for your college. It's not like we ever treated you badly."I said nothing and hung up.On October 1, Cate invited me over to her son's pl
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Chapter 7
The company held its annual meeting in early April, and I won the Outstanding Newcomer of the Year award, along with a certificate and 5,000 dollars."Man, you've only been here six months. Somehow you've already done a year's worth of work," Liam teased."Well, it's not like I had anything else going on.""Did you work this hard back in Berton too?"I just put the certificate away.At the end of April, I got a call from an unknown number on my old line. I didn't plan to answer it at first, but then I noticed the area code was from Berton.A middle-aged man's voice came through. "Hello, is this Beth Ingram?""Yes.""I'm calling from Berton Hospital. Your father was brought in after having a heart attack this morning. He put you down as his emergency contact, and he's in the ICU now. Your mother wants you to come back as soon as possible."I froze for a few seconds. "Alright."I sat at my desk and thought about it for three minutes before opening the ticket app. The high-speed
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Chapter 8
Mom and I were the only ones left in the hallway. She looked over at me, hesitated for a moment, before finally working up the courage to ask, "Beth, can you stay tonight?"I said, "I'll see how things go."I ended up staying anyway.As Mom had said, even if they had lied to me, they had still raised me all these years.Around 2:00 am, a nurse came out and said Dad's condition had stabilized. Mom had fallen asleep with her head on the chair, so I went to the billing counter and put another 10,000 dollars toward the hospital deposit with my own money.The nurse handed me the receipt. "Are you the patient's daughter?""Yes.""We need to update the family information. Someone else's name is listed on the form.""It's fine. She's his daughter too."The nurse paused for a second but didn't say anything else.The next morning, Dad was moved out of the ICU and into a regular room. The doctor said he was recovering well, but he needed plenty of rest and couldn't do anything too stren
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Chapter 9
I dived back into work after returning to Southia. My schedule was packed with projects, and I worked late every day until 9:00 pm.Liam could tell something was off with me, so he asked about it over lunch. "You went back home?""Yeah.""Oh, did something happen?""My dad had a heart attack and ended up in the hospital.""Then why didn't you stay a few more days?""I stayed long enough."Liam gave me a look but didn't ask further.In the middle of May, Mom called my old number several times, and every call went straight to the voicemail on my new number. Now and then, I'd listen to them.In the first one, she said, "Beth, please. I'm begging you. Just call me back."In another, Mom said, "Your dad's doing much better. He keeps asking about you. Can you come back one more time?"The third was different. "Beth, I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have treated you that way. Please come home. We can sit down and talk."By the fourth call, Mom wasn't crying anymore. She'd switched
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Chapter 10
On July 20, Simon came to my company. When I saw him at the front desk, my first instinct was to wonder how he had found me.Simon was dressed in a wrinkled shirt, his hair disheveled. He looked nothing like the guy who used to sit at home playing video games.I asked, "How did you find me?"He explained, "I checked the address on one of your packages. You'd sent something home before, and your company name was on the shipping label."I thought about it for a moment and realized it was a box of cookies I'd sent Mom when I first started working here last year.She hadn't even thanked me after it arrived."How can I help you?"Simon looked conflicted. "Mom's sick.""What's wrong with her?""The doctor said she has anxiety, along with years of poor sleep. Ever since you left, she's been having trouble sleeping every night. Harper's been taking care of her at home, but things aren't going well for her at work, so she's been taking her frustration out on everyone at home."Dad's r
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