Adopted Daughter Thanked Only Birth Mom; I Recalled Millions Overnight

My adopted daughter won a top science prize, and when she walked up to give her acceptance speech, I was overjoyed.

Then I listened as she thanked her professors, her friends, even her friend's dog, even the janitor who cleaned the lab, and never once got to me.

At the very end, just as I thought she would finally say the name of the woman who raised her,

she said, "The person I most want to thank is my birth mother..."

I froze. I didn't understand. What exactly had I done to wrong her?

For twenty years I raised her in comfort, gave her the finest of everything.

She said she wanted to be a scientist, so I poured hundreds of millions into building her a lab, recruiting the best people,

carried her all the way to the stage of a top science prize, and couldn't earn a single word of thanks.

Until, at the interview after the ceremony, a reporter asked her,

"I hear you also have an adoptive mother. Why didn't we hear you thank her tonight?"

Her face darkened, and she said,

"Everything I've achieved comes entirely from my own effort. It has nothing to do with my adoptive mother!"

"If she hadn't torn me away from my birth mother back then, I'd have won this award much sooner, raised under my real mother's care."

Her words made me laugh out of sheer anger. I made a single phone call right there.

"Cancel all funding to Vanessa Sharpe's lab."

She said her achievements had nothing to do with me, didn't she?

Then from today, you can go let your real mother raise you.

...

I hung up just as Vanessa finished her interview and walked over.

"Since you heard all that, you should take some time to reflect on yourself."

There wasn't a trace of guilt on her face, only self-righteous arrogance.

I looked at her, and I almost found it funny.

"Reflect?" I looked her in the eye. "Reflect on what?"

Vanessa frowned, impatient.

"Are you really this dense, or are you faking it?"

"If you hadn't forced me apart from my birth mother back then, would I have spent twenty years living under someone else's roof?"

"You funded my lab. On the surface you were supporting me, but really?"

"You planted your own company's people on my team so you could tell me what to do."

"And when I was little, you forced me to learn piano, horseback riding, ballet,"

"signed me up for a pile of useless hobby classes that seriously held back my development in science."

"Otherwise, I'd have won this award five years ago."

Listening to her stream of accusations, a heavy pressure settled in my chest.

Twenty years ago, I was driving when a woman suddenly threw herself in front of my car, faking an accident.

Out of kindness, I took her and her daughter to the hospital and paid the medical bills up front.

Then, while I was off settling the payment,

that woman dumped five-year-old Vanessa in the hospital lobby and vanished without a trace.

I called the police. I searched for a full six months. Nothing.

Looking at the thin little girl in the orphanage, all skin and bone,

my heart softened, and I filed the adoption papers.

For twenty years, I held her in the palm of my hand.

She said she wanted to play piano, so I hired a world-class master to tutor her one on one.

She said she wanted to do research, and without a word I set aside three hundred million in dedicated funding,

built her the finest lab in the country, and paid top salaries to bring in an elite team from overseas.

And now she says I forced her apart from her birth mother?

"Your birth mother dumped you at the hospital and ran off. Was that my doing too?"

I looked at her, cold.

Vanessa's face went stiff.

"That's because my mom was too poor back then! She gave me up so I could have a better life, it broke her heart to do it!"

"What would a money-grubbing capitalist like you know about the greatness of a mother's love?"

I drew in a deep breath and pushed down the chill rising in me.

I thought back to five years ago, Vanessa's twentieth birthday, when the woman who had disappeared for fifteen years suddenly reappeared.

She knelt weeping in front of Vanessa, saying she'd had no choice back then, saying her life was better now and she wanted to make it up to her.

At the time Vanessa shrank behind me, refusing her, pointing at the woman and calling her a fraud,

insisting over and over that I was her only mother.

I was so moved I could hardly stand it. To calm Vanessa down, I even

gave the woman a sum of money and sent her away.

"So the two of you have actually been in contact ever since?" I stared into Vanessa's eyes.

Vanessa lifted her chin and admitted it without the slightest hesitation.

"So what if we have? If I weren't afraid of hurting your feelings and making you jealous, would my mom have had to sneak around every time she saw me?"

"She gave birth to me. She gave me the best genes. Everything I've achieved in science comes from the intelligence she passed down to me."

"What have you done besides throw money around?"

I nodded, and the last thread of warmth in my heart went completely cold.

"Since you think I meddle in your lab, fine."

Right in front of her, I called my assistant, Victor Wells.

"Victor, pass the word along. Pull every one of the company's people out of Vanessa Sharpe's lab immediately."

"And cut off all further funding to that lab. Recover every piece of precision equipment we loaned out."

I hung up and looked at Vanessa.

"Since my money held back your future, then from today, I'll stop playing the villain."

Vanessa froze for a second, then let out a scornful little laugh, looking at me without a trace of fear.

"You don't need to threaten me here. Do you think I'd actually believe you?"

"You'd never bring yourself to pull the funding. If my real mom hadn't told me, I wouldn't even know how much profit those patents my lab churns out every year bring your company!"

"On the surface you're funding me, but really you've just been using me as a free cash cow. Now that I've won a big award and my value's doubled, you want to play hard to get so you can control me? Keep dreaming!"

Looking at that blindly confident face, I didn't even have the energy left to be angry.

Those patents her lab produced,

if I hadn't poured a few hundred million of my own money in every year to package and run it,

her lab would have gone into bankruptcy liquidation eight hundred times over.

"Is that so?" I put my phone back in my bag.

"Then you go on guarding your cash cow and make your fortune."

With that, I turned and walked away.

Behind me came Vanessa's contemptuous cold snort.

"What a show. Within three days, you'll be crying and begging me to take your money!"

I'd taken only two steps when a figure darted out in front of me.

"Melissa, don't go! Let me explain!"

It was Vanessa's birth mother, Louisa Chavez.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she dropped to her knees with a thud.

"Melissa, I'm begging you, please don't be angry with Vanessa."

"Every bit of it is my fault. I couldn't help myself, I came to see her in secret."

"Please, whatever you do, don't pull the funding!"

I frowned and yanked my hand back hard.

"Let go."

Louisa didn't let go. If anything, she cried louder.

"I won't! Not unless you promise you won't withdraw the money! Why do you have to drive the two of us to our deaths?"

"As long as you keep investing, I swear I'll never see Vanessa again, all right?"

Just then, a rush of hurried footsteps came from behind me.

"Mom! What are you doing! Get up!"

Vanessa hauled Louisa up off the ground, then turned her head and glared at me, venom in her eyes.

A sharp crack.

The crisp sound of a slap rang out.

My head snapped to the side, my cheek burning with a stinging heat.

Vanessa pulled her hand back and stepped in front of Louisa, shielding her.

"Don't think a bit of dirty money lets you do whatever you want! What gives you the right to make my real mom kneel to you?"

"You stole twenty years from me and that still wasn't enough? Now you want to use money to force the two of us apart?"

"I'm telling you, if you dare bully my mom again, I really won't acknowledge you as my adoptive mother anymore!"

The commotion quickly drew the other guests and reporters just coming out of the venue.

The crowd gradually closed in, pointing and whispering at us.

"Isn't that the genius girl who just won the award?"

"The one who got slapped looks like her adoptive mother. I heard she's some big boss."

"Rich people really are vicious. Using her money to force some brilliant girl to stay hers,"

"and now the girl's real mom shows up, and she still makes her kneel."

Vanessa gave a cold snort.

"This slap is what you owe my mom. Don't bother coming to my celebration dinner tonight. Just the sight of you disgusts me."

"You'd better go home and think hard about what you've done. When you've come to your senses, I'll consider whether to forgive you."

With that, she supported Louisa and, surrounded by the crowd, walked out of the parking lot.

I stood where I was, watching their backs, and took out my phone.

"Assistant Wells."

"Yes, Ms. Sharpe." Victor's voice was as steady as ever.

"Draft a statement dissolving the adoption. Send it to all the major outlets first thing tomorrow morning."

"And settle the accounts on every major asset I've given to Vanessa over these fifteen years."

"Including the large flat in the city center, the two sports cars, and all the luxury goods she bought by quietly siphoning from the company account."

"Take it all through the legal channels. I want every last bit of it back."

"Understood, Ms. Sharpe. I have backups of every gift contract and transfer record. We can file suit whenever you're ready."

I hung up and settled into the car.

Reflect? Yes, I really should reflect.

My one mistake was being too good to her, feeding money into her until I'd raised an ungrateful animal with my own hands.

As the car pulled out of the lot, my phone buzzed.

Vanessa had posted something on her social media feed.

The photo was of her and Louisa at the celebration dinner, both of them beaming.

The caption read:

Thank you to my dear mother for giving me my unmatched talent. That's the only reason I could win this award today.

But there's always some shameless person who did absolutely nothing and still wants to swoop in and steal the fruit.

Blood is the deepest bond in this world.

I let out a cold laugh and tossed the phone onto the passenger seat.

When I pushed open the front door, the living room was blazing with light.

The dinner was over, and Vanessa hadn't just come home alone. She'd brought Louisa back too.

"What did you bring her into my house for?" I walked over, my face cold.

Vanessa didn't even lift her head at the sound of my voice.

"What do you mean your house? This is my house too. My mom had a scare today. What's wrong with me bringing her back to stay a few days?"

Louisa flashed me a smug little smile.

"Melissa, don't be angry. Vanessa's just a devoted daughter."

"Don't worry, I'm only staying in the master bedroom. I won't dirty up any of your other rooms."

The master bedroom?

I strode to my bedroom door and shoved it open.

The room, once spotless, looked like a garbage dump.

My closet had been ransacked, several expensive couture gowns flung across the carpet,

a few filthy black shoe prints stamped over them.

On the vanity, every one of my limited-edition skincare products had been opened, some of them gouged out in big scooped clumps.

"Who told you two you could go into my room?" I turned, demanding it sharply.

Vanessa finally stood, her face full of irritation.

"What are you yelling for? My real mom's never used anything this nice in her whole life. So what if I gave her a few of your clothes and a couple jars of cream to try?"

"You've got money. Just buy more, right?"

"Besides, if you've really been reflecting, you should show a little sincerity. Consider all this your apology to my mom."

Looking at that face, so certain she was owed everything, I felt sick to my stomach.

"Get out." I pointed at the door.

"Now. This instant. Take your mother and get out of my house!"

Vanessa's expression shifted, and she was about to lash out when a smell hit me.

Grape scent!

Since I was a child I'd had a severe allergy to grapes and grape extract, severe enough to trigger acute asthma and shock.

Vanessa knew this.

Which was why nothing connected to grapes had ever been allowed in this house.

My breathing started to come fast and shallow, the air draining out of my lungs bit by bit.

"Whowho brought a grape diffuser in here?" I braced myself on the doorframe and forced the words out.

Louisa rose from the sofa, looking at me all innocence.

"I brought it. Vanessa said you're always under so much pressure at work, so I picked it out specially. It's wonderful for sleep."

My legs began to give, my vision blurring.

"Throw it out, throw it out now" I clutched my chest, gulping for air.

But Vanessa just stood there, not moving, arms folded, watching me with a cold smile.

"Mom, can you stop putting on an act?"

"It's just a little grape diffuser. Nobody's making you eat grapes. How could you possibly react this badly?"

"This sob-story routine of yours is way too fake. You think you can force us out this way? Not a chance!"

I slumped weakly to the floor.

And just as my fingers were about to reach the hem of her dress, Louisa suddenly screamed.

"My leg!"

She let herself fall backward, rolling down the two steps as she went, then lay on the floor wailing in agony.

"Vanessa! I think my leg is broken!"

Vanessa's face changed completely, and she kicked away the hand I'd stretched toward her.

"Mom! Are you okay?"

She stepped right over me where I'd collapsed and rushed to Louisa's side, carefully helping her up,

then walked out the front door without a single glance back.

The door slammed shut behind them.

I lay there on the cold floor as my consciousness slid into darkness.

"Ms. Sharpe, you're finally awake."

I opened my eyes slowly.

Mervyn Finch stood at the bedside, his face taut with worry. When he saw my eyes open, he let out a long breath.

"You went into anaphylactic shock. You were in the ICU for three whole days."

"If I hadn't happened to find you passed out that day, I don't dare think what would have happened."

"Where's my phone?" My voice came out hoarse.

Mervyn took it from the nightstand and handed it to me.

I swiped the screen open.

In those three days I'd been unconscious, Vanessa hadn't sent a single message to ask whether I was alive or dead.

I opened her social media feed. The most recent posts were all photos of her at the beach with Louisa.

In the pictures, the two of them wore designer beach dresses and dined on expensive seafood spreads.

The caption read: Taking the mom who worked so hard her whole life away for a little relaxation, far from those fake, vicious people. It feels wonderful.

I looked at the screen, and the corner of my mouth curved into something cold.

Just then a message popped up at the top of the screen.

It was from Vanessa.

Mom, I just got a call from the lab's finance office. They say the account's empty.

Wire fifty million into it right away. Next week the science prize organizers are coming to inspect the lab.

If the lab fails its rating because of a funding problem, my award will be revoked.

If you dare screw this up, I'll never forgive you as long as I live!

Reading those lines, so full of righteous entitlement, I actually laughed out of sheer anger.

I didn't reply. Instead I called Victor.

"Assistant Wells, how are things going at the lab?"

"You don't need to worry, boss."

"Three days ago, per your instructions, I had every precision instrument and every core data server belonging to our company moved out of the lab."

"All thirty-seven senior researchers have been transferred back to headquarters."

"As for the account, I've frozen it and pulled out every remaining cent."

I nodded, satisfied.

"Good. Book me a flight to the overseas branch. I have a meeting to run, and I could use the change of scenery."

One week later.

Vanessa arrived leading several foreigners in sharp suits, the review team from the science prize organizers.

Louisa trailed at the back of the group, chin high, chest out.

"Everyone, just ahead is my own private laboratory."

"It has the most advanced equipment in all of Asia and the most elite research team money can buy."

"Everything I've achieved rests entirely on the hardware in this lab."

"You could say it's the highest-level laboratory in the country, bar none."

The reviewers nodded along, their eyes bright with anticipation.

The doors swung slowly open to both sides.

Vanessa didn't even turn to look. She simply made a sweeping gesture of welcome.

"After you, everyone."

But the gasps of admiration she'd expected never came.

The reviewers stood in the doorway, the anticipation on their faces freezing over in an instant,

replaced by bewilderment and shock.

One reviewer pointed inside and asked:

"Ms. Sharpe, this is what you called the highest-level laboratory in the country?"