Reborn at Eighteen I Cut Off My Toxic Family

After Family Swap ended, the girl I'd traded places with was adopted by my parents.

From that day on, she became my constant comparisonthe measuring stick held up against me in everything.

My parents loved her. They couldn't stand me.

My boyfriend loved her. He betrayed me.

Years of fighting, and I still held on to hope.

I was their biological daughter. Surely, in the end, they'd still love me.

Until I saw the will. Every cent, every asset, left to Linda Simmons.

Until I saw them planning Linda's wedding to my boyfriend.

I snapped. Made a scene. Fell from the building and died.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Family Swap had just ended.

My parents had sent me on the show to fix me.

They shipped me off to the countryside so I could see how hard life really was, so I'd appreciate how difficult it was for them to earn a living.

After filming wrapped, they couldn't stop pitying the girl who'd swapped with me.

So in their infinite generosity, they kept her. Made her their adopted daughter.

I refused to accept it. The tenderness I'd never once received, Linda Simmons got in a matter of days.

How was that fair?

After I threw a fit about it,

Linda cried and saidMom, just send me back. She's your one and only treasure. Of course she'd be upset that I'm here. You've been so good to meI don't want her fighting with you because of me.

After that little speech, my mother's heart bled even more for her.

She turned on meEvelyn Carter, I thought this trip might actually change you. Clearly I was wrong. You're as impossible as ever!

You stayed at Linda's home. You lived the life she came from. And it didn't move you at all? You're really that heartless, that you can't make room for her?

Question after question, and I had nothing. All I managed wasWhat does any of that have to do with me? Did I cause it?

My mother slapped me. Called me ungrateful. Called me beyond saving.

From that day on, I only got worse.

I kept telling myself I was their real daughter.

Sooner or later, they'd make Linda Simmons leave my home.

I never imagined it was all just wishful thinking.

In the end, they left everything to Linda.

Personally arranged her wedding to my boyfriend.

They gave up on me.

Even after I fell to my death, they didn't spare me a second glance.

They were rich. As long as they wanted to, they could have as many daughters as they pleased.

But I only ever had one father and one mother.

So this time, when they brought up adopting Linda,

I noddedIf it makes you and Dad happy, then keep her.

My opinion had never mattered to them anyway.

My mother was pleased, and credited it to herself.

Looks like sending you on Family Swap really did work. You've matured quite a bit since coming back.

In my past life, my parents had promised they'd be home to celebrate my birthday with me.

I waited from morning until the clock struck midnight. They never showed.

They said they forgot, but promised to make it up with the LEGO set I'd been wanting.

When they finally bought it, they handed it off to some relative's kid who happened to be visiting.

I protested, and my mother told me not to be so petty.

It was just a toy, she said. They'd buy another one.

Right. Just a toy. If they wanted to give one away so badly, why not buy a new one to give away?

Why did it have to be mine?

So when the replacement arrived and they put it in my hands, I didn't want it anymore.

I threw it and saidI don't want this one. I want the one you promised me!

My mother was furiousWhy are you so difficult? I already made it up to you. What more do you want?

I was angry and hurt in equal measureYou promised that one to me, and then you gave it away. Did you even think about how I'd feel?

What I got back was another slap.

Are we starving you? Are we letting you go without? We give you a life most kids would kill for, and that's not enough?

We work ourselves to the bone for you, and all you can do is obsess over one little thing? How can you be so ungrateful?

She vented her frustration, but she never understood. It was never about wanting a thing.

What that gift carried was the hope that my parents loved me.

Once it was given away, the person receiving the replacement wasn't in the same place anymore, and the people giving it had already spent whatever feeling they'd had.

Once it was gone, no replacement could make up for itnot even the exact same set.

They decided I was spoiled and impossible to satisfy. Not long after, they signed me up for Family Swap.

I picked up my suitcase and headed upstairs, but my mother stopped me.

Evelyn, your room is Linda's now.

I froze mid-step and turned to look at herAnd?

She blinked, unbotheredShe's settled in. You just got back. Just take a different room.

Even knowing this was coming didn't stop the cold from settling in my chest.

A few days and she was settled in? I'd lived in that room for years and that counted for nothing?

Linda stood behind my mother, watching me with that careful, timid look.

Second life or not, my hatred for Linda Simmons hadn't changed. That much would stay the same.

Anything she'd touched, I no longer wanted.

I kept my voice flatIf you've already decided, then fine.

After I settled into my new room upstairs, Mom knocked on my door.

She sat beside me and saidEvelyn, I know how much you loved your old room downstairs. But Linda needs it more than you do. Have a look aroundwhatever's missing in here, I'll get it for you.

So she did know how much I loved that room. And she still made me give it up.

That's okay, Mom. Thank you. Perfectly polite. Perfectly final.

Because none of it mattered anymore.

That room was mine. Every detail chosen by my own hands, down to the floor-to-ceiling windows that opened onto the little garden. My one-of-a-kind princess room.

Now it belonged to Linda Simmons.

I didn't throw a fit. My quiet compliance seemed to catch Mom off guard.

But she accepted it quickly enough.

After all, wasn't this exactly the result she'd been hoping for when she sent me off to Family Swap?

Get some rest, then. She left the room.

Laughter drifted up from downstairs. I thought of the scenes I'd witnessed in my past lifeLinda and my parents, warm and easy together.

Back then, I'd still hoped that kind of warmth would happen for me too.

Now I knew it never would.

So why did my heart still ache, even a little?

It's fine. Just get used to it. The ending's already writtenwhy go looking for pain?

I threw myself into studying, and stopped caring about any of it.

The next time Mom scolded me was over Linda Simmons's eighteenth birthday.

She'd said she'd never had cake before, never had a real birthday, so my parents put together a whole elaborate celebration for her.

I came back from my tutoring session just as they finished cutting the cake.

Linda sat between my parents wearing a party hat, a slice of cake cradled in both hands, her face bright with happiness.

When she saw me walk in, she froze. The smile dropped. Her eyes darted to Mom, and she quietly set her cake down.

Then she wiped the corner of her mouth in a small, self-conscious motionthough there wasn't a trace of frosting there.

Every one of those little gestures landed right in Mom's line of sight.

Mom's brow creased as she turned to meEvelyn, have you been bullying Linda?

Before I could say a word, she'd already wrapped a protective arm around Linda's shoulders.

As though I'd actually done something to her.

But I hadn't. Not in this life. I just had no intention of playing nice with her either.

I'd been treating her like she didn't exist, nothing more, and focusing on my own days.

Mom, why would you just assume I was bullying her?

Mom paused, then came back without a shred of doubtI know exactly what you're likespoiled, domineering, and impossible.

Her tone hardenedWe chose to adopt Linda. This is her home now. You're the older sisteryou should be giving way to her, not the other way around.

Linda turned to me with that eager-to-please lookWhy don't you come have some cake with us?

I turned her downNo, thanks.

Linda looked to Mom for help.

Mom gave her a reassuring smile, then turned to me and the warmth was goneIt's your sister's birthday. Don't ruin it for her.

So it's fine to ruin it for me instead?

Right. They'd already forgotten my own birthday. Why would they care whether I was happy.

I smiledMom, if I want cake, I can have it on my own birthday. She probably never got to have any before, right? So why would I take a share from her? Let her enjoy it.

Polite, considerate, and distant. Not a single word anyone could fault.

On your birthday Mom started to speak, then stoppedas though she'd just remembered that my birthday had already passed.

A flicker of guilt crossed her face.

I kept my voice evenI agreed to let her stay. Naturally, I'm not going to do anything to her.

There's my promise. Satisfied, Mom?

I turned and headed upstairs without waiting for her answer. Whether she felt guilty or not was no longer my concern.

My coldness finally made Mom sense that something was off.

When had it started? When had I stopped curling up against her, stopped being playful and affectionate the way I used to be?

Before Linda came, we'd had our share of rough patches, but in my eyes she was still the best mother in the world.

She rose to follow me, but behind her came Linda's soft, tearful voiceShe didn't bully me. I just I miss my mom and dad.

The footsteps that had been coming toward me turned and walked away.

Then Mom's voice, warm and aching with tendernessPoor thing. Your parents are gone now, but from today on, we're your mom and dad.

I closed my door in silence.

How nice for her. She lost her parents and got new ones.

What about me? I lost mine too. Did anyone ever care?

The next day, I showed up in front of my parents with a lawyer and a transfer agreement on the table.

Twenty percent of the family company was minemy grandfather had put it in his will before he passed. Held in trust by my parents until I turned eighteen, then mine outright.

In my last life, I'd been so consumed with competing against Linda Simmons for scraps of attention that I forgot the shares even existed.

I died without ever claiming them, and she got the benefit of every last cent.

My father stared at me, thrown off.You're barely an adult. What do you need shares for? Don't we give you enough spending money?

My lawyer spoke up.Per the will of the late Mr. Carter, Evelyn Carter's shares are to be held by her personally upon reaching the age of eighteen. She now meets that condition. I'll need both signatures on the agreement.

With a lawyer and a legal will sitting in front of them, they signed.

The second my mother set down the pen, she saidThese were going to be yours eventually anyway. Did you really have to do it like this just to make a point about us missing your birthday?

Just think of the shares as a belated birthday gift. You got what you wanted, so drop it.

What a strange thing to saymy grandfather left those shares to me, and somehow they'd become a birthday present my parents were graciously making up for. People really are like that: hold on to someone else's things long enough and you forget they were never yours.

I slid the signed agreement into my bag. I tried to swallow it, tried again, but the bitterness still wouldn't go down.

Mom, when have I ever made a fuss about my birthday? If anything, that sounds like your guilty conscience, not mine. But don't worry about itI don't expect a birthday. It's just a birthday. It's really not that important. And the shares are what Grandpa left me. They're not a gift from you. They were always mine.

And Dadspending money? You know exactly what the annual dividends on twenty percent look like. All those years since Grandpa died, that money's been sitting in your hands. If we really did the math, you'd probably still owe me.

My voice was cold and hard, and I'm sure my expression matched.

The two of them looked at me, their faces shifting from shock to disappointment to outright anger.

Why do you think your grandfather left you anything?

Because you're our daughter!

I smiled faintly.Well, can't help that. You're the ones who decided to have me.