After Losing Us Both
My billionaire parents, Gerald Voight and Diane Westwood, were afraid my sister, Claire Voight, and I would grow spoiled if we stayed in luxury, so they pulled us out of the city's best prep school and sent us to study in a remote mountain town.
On the way there, locals knocked us unconscious and sold us into a brutal trafficking ring.
I found a way to contact my parents and begged them to save us, but they said I was lying.
"Being sent to the mountains means you were trafficked? You really were raised too soft. You can't handle even a little hardship."
"Kids there get into college by fighting their way out. Learn to do the same. Stop depending on us for everything."
They blocked my sister's number and mine before I could explain.
To survive, my sister and I escaped after three days without food, but when we tried to buy tickets out of the county, the ticket clerk refused us.
"Sorry, miss. We've received instructions from the Voight family. You're not allowed to leave the county by any method, unless it's for college."
We couldn't get away. The traffickers dragged us back.
Later, my sister died from the tortures in a filthy basement.
I was luckier. At my last breath, undercover anti-trafficking officers found me.
I held my sister's ashes and fled to the farthest city from home.
Then our cousin, Jenna Reed, posted a photo from her overseas school.
[Uncle Gerald and Aunt Diane are just like my real parents. They give me the best love.]
She tagged me on purpose, the way she always did, hoping I'd be provoked into questioning her.
This time, I only liked the post and replied:
[If you're willing, they can be your real parents. You can be their only daughter.]