***Alissa Blake***
"I'm going to tell you the whole truth, Alissa."
That kept echoing in my head for a time I couldn't even measure. Eva looked at me like she'd been carrying a weight for years, like she'd been holding her breath all that time. Her face was pale, her hands were trembling, and I was just... standing there, not even knowing where to start processing it all.
"But you have to promise you won't hate me."
I didn’t answer. I just nodded because my throat was tight, and I didn’t even know how to feel. The fear mixed with adrenaline in my chest made me want to run, but my legs wouldn’t move.
Even if a hurricane had broken out outside, as it seemed from the storm, I wouldn’t have been able to move while feeling that pressure, the vacuum that had formed in my chest, nearly killing me inside.
It was like I sensed it, like my brain was putting the pieces together on its own.
"You were a healthy baby. Strong. And... beautiful, a little blue-eyed angel." She swallowed hard, looking away, visibly ashamed. "I was twenty-one. I had just graduated from college and still lived with my parents. It was a different time, more... closed off. More cruel, too."
My stomach turned; I couldn’t even begin to process the absurdity of her words. I didn’t know where this was going, but something inside me already did. I just didn’t want to accept it.
"I got pregnant. And the father... well, he was someone who couldn’t be a father. Someone important. With plans, status, and a name. Having a daughter with a woman like me... it would’ve ruined everything."
She pressed her lips into a thin line that highlighted the wrinkles around her mouth. She didn’t want to talk about him, and part of me wanted to ask, to push, to force it out of her. But another part... preferred to leave it be. I think it was hard enough already to hear what I was hearing.
If I ever thought my life couldn’t get more tragic, this moment proved that no pit is deep enough for Alissa Blake.
"He told me it would be better for everyone if no one knew. That I could do it in secret, without anyone finding out. He offered me money. Help. A way to disappear and start over." She went on, letting out a nervous, irritated chuckle, like she was pissed off about something.
"I didn’t accept. I wanted to have you anyway. I thought I could handle it. And I did... for a while."
I swallowed hard, feeling goosebumps on my skin. It didn’t feel like my story; it felt like something out of a horror tale.
"On the day you were born, my best friend was with me. A nurse... She... she took care of everything. She was the one who helped me, who stayed with me that night. When you were born, I... I held you for five minutes, maybe less. You were crying so loud, like you already knew your life was going to be hard from the very first second. And I loved you in a way I’ve never loved anything again."
She turned her face, wiping away the tears that kept piling up one after the other, making everything a mess.
"But I couldn’t keep you. He made that very clear. Said if I didn’t disappear with the baby, he’d destroy me. My family. Everything."
My hands were freezing. The teacup in front of me seemed distant, like a mirage. I… I could only look at her.
"So she... my friend... she said she’d take care of everything. That she’d find a way. And the next day, they told me you had died."
My legs went numb, and I tried to move, but it felt like I was about to collapse.
"What?"
My voice came out in a hoarse whisper, my throat aching from the effort not to scream.
"That you hadn’t survived. That there was no funeral, no burial. Just that. A signed paper. A ‘sorry’ and goodbye."
She leaned forward, gripping my hands tightly; the sensation was so strange…
"But you didn’t die, Alissa. She took you. She and her husband who had been trying to have kids for years. She knew she couldn’t legally adopt, so... she forged everything. And you became their daughter. You grew up in that house. With that name."
Everything spun as I replayed my whole life like a movie in my mind. All of it… a tragic lie.
My chest burned, and it hurt just to breathe. I wanted to die.
"Why... why did you never look for me?" My voice came out broken.
"I moved away with my parents right after. They wanted to spin the narrative that I had gone off to boarding school. Since I spent the pregnancy in seclusion, no one ever knew. Then I came back about ten years ago, when you were no longer here. I was scared of putting you in danger, of putting myself in danger too… I didn’t want to face the biggest mistake of my life like I was worthy of having you again…"
I couldn’t say anything. I just cried in silence. The tears ran hot down my face, and yet I felt a cold inside me that seemed like it would never go away.
"Forgive me, Alissa. Please." She pleaded, squeezing my hands. "I spent my life thinking about you. Wondering how you were, what you liked to eat, and if you were still chubby like you were as a baby. And when I saw you at school... when Morgan talked about you, I... I knew."
I curled up on the couch, feeling that sense of injustice radiate through my whole body, like every part of me was broken.
"They hurt you, didn’t they?" she said so softly, like she didn’t want to hear the truth. I didn’t want to admit it either.
So I just nodded, barely moving.
She closed her eyes for a second. "They did the same to Morgan. I should’ve told someone right from the start, but I was afraid of retaliation. I need that job..."
My head slowly lifted, and I didn’t know how to hide how angry I felt; it was written all over my face.
"What?"
"She would show up with bruises on her body in preschool. She once came in wearing pajamas in the middle of winter, no coat… I made anonymous reports, Alissa. But they’re... respected. Have status, friends in town, they lie and pretend so well. They use the church’s image to hide everything."
She took a deep breath, slowly composing herself before continuing. I was clawing at the couch fabric with my nails, sweating from the heat of so much rage despite the cold.
"Over time, they stopped being so careless, but only because she became useful. Beautiful, polite, always smiling. The perfect daughter. A showcase."
My mouth went dry. I thought about the time Morgan said she didn’t get dessert, didn’t get dinner. Every time she tried her best to please… God, she’s just a child, defenseless, how can people be so cruel?
And then I remembered, I remembered everything they did to me. I thought maybe with her it had been a little better.
"They use her to improve their image. They punish her when no one sees, withhold food, and ignore her when she cries. And she thinks it’s normal. That it’s her fault." I said, confirming everything because now it was all too obvious.
That was the last straw.
The pain in my chest turned into rage, a feeling of powerlessness... A silent fury that boiled along with the sadness, the revolt, the feeling of being robbed of everything. Of my real mother… Of a childhood. Of a life.
But now… now I knew.
And they were going to regret everything.