Todos os capítulos de A Daughter's Court: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 9

It was 4 a.m. in Evelyn's footage. The dorm was quiet, everyone else asleep, but she slipped into her faded jacket and headed off to work in the cafeteria.She was quick to tie on a greasy apron and lug a huge bucket of kitchen waste out back, trip after trip, until ten buckets stood in a tidy row. Days without food had taken their toll. After the heavy lifting, she was so exhausted that she gagged against the wall. Barely recovered, she did not even wipe her face before heading off to claim her pay for the morning's work: two dry slices of bread and a bowl of oatmeal. Huddled in a corner, she wolfed down her meal, scraping the bowl clean.She scrubbed her bowl until it shone and stowed it away in the sanitizer. Then, she sprinted to class.She was a front-row fixture, her notebook crammed with meticulous notes. When lunchtime came, her classmates headed off together while she stayed put. Once the room was empty, she shuffled over to the water cooler with her beat-up thermos, fill

At the hospital, the doctor leading the rescue effort said Evelyn was in dire straits, needing blood right away.However, her blood type was rare, nowhere to be found in the hospital's reserves.Upon seeing me, the doctor clutched at my wrist, desperate, "Ms. Smith! You're her mother. You could be a match! Please, go with the nurse to get tested!"I kept my smile. "I'm sorry, but a transfusion could weaken my immune system, and I'd rather not."Jessica was on me in a flash, gripping my arm. "Laura! Inside there, that's your daughter, the one you carried for nine months! How can you just stand there and say no?!"I brushed her off, my voice calm as though I were commenting on the day's weather."Lowered immunity could lead to catching a cold, and I'd rather not risk it."Everyone around was floored, unable to fathom a mother's heart so cruel."Besides, Evelyn's an adult. If she's chosen this path for herself, then it's her right. We shouldn't waste the hospital's time and resour

I was in a panic and even confronted Frank, pleading with him to keep his distance from Evelyn.However, he flat-out denied any romantic involvement with her.He turned the tables on me, insisting he only saw Evelyn as a student and suggesting that I was reading too much into it.It was not long before I caught Evelyn sneaking money from me.It started with a couple of hundred, then escalated to thousands. Eventually, she brazenly used my credit card to splurge on a $15000 men's watch.When I challenged her with the credit card bill, she shot back, "You just don't get love, so stay out of my personal life."That was when I learned that Frank had already made his move, promising to marry her after her high school graduation.He had filled her head with ideas that my business earnings were hers to claim, urging her to funnel more cash his way for his so-called business ventures, all for the promise of a better life.Left with no other option, I froze her bank account. However, sh

"And the reason I didn't save you myself is that our blood types don't match! I'm not your real mother!"From my bag, I took out a notebook and a faded newspaper.The notebook's cover was stamped with 'Adoption Registration Certificate.'The newspaper's headline screamed, [Silverbay tsunami claims thousands, leaves nearly a hundred children orphaned.]I laid them out in front of Evelyn. "You're not my flesh and blood. I adopted you after the tsunami. The 'father' who died too soon? That was a story I made up. I was scared that knowing you were an orphan would break your heart and make you feel alienated."Evelyn's look went from puzzled to shocked, and then to utterly devastated."You... What are you talking about? How can I not be your daughter? That's impossible!""In a way, yes and no." I took her hand. "I may not have brought you into this world, but from the moment I brought you home, I've loved you as my own. I stayed single, had no other kids, and poured myself into my bu