Parents Went Broke for Adopted Daughter, Now Want Me Too

The day I won five million in the lottery, I went to the bank to pay off my car loan early.

After checking my documents, the teller looked up at me.

I'm sorry, this vehicle is registered in Sandra Henson's name. You're not authorized to handle this.

I froze for a moment.

Sandra, our family's adopted daughter.

This car was a birthday gift from my boyfriend, Ronnie. Why would it be in her name?

I wanted to go home and get to the bottom of it.

The moment I walked in, I saw Ronnie with his arm around Sandra, a marriage certificate in his hand.

My brother, Morgan, saw me first, and he stiffened.

"Meg, you know about Sandy's health. The doctor said any more shocks and her body might not hold up."

"I gave my quiet approval for her and Ronnie to register their marriage, so don't blame Ronnie."

"Back when I had that car accident, if Sandy hadn't given me a blood transfusion, I might already be dead."

My mom chimed in, backing him up.

"You know as well as anyone, Sandy was abandoned at the foot of a bridge as a baby and it left her with all kinds of illnesses."

"It's not that your parents don't love you, it's that Sandy has nothing."

"She's finally fallen in love with someone. Just take pity on her, can't you?"

I looked at Ronnie.

He kept his head down, gripping Sandra's hand tightly, saying nothing.

Years ago, when my brother had his accident, I passed out from giving too much blood.

The nurse said I was Rh-negative and needed to rest more after a draw.

Sandra had simply taken credit for something that was already done.

I had never mentioned this to anyone.

Before, I hadn't wanted to.

Now there was no point.

I didn't argue. I set the car keys on the table and turned to leave.

My parents' shouts came from behind me.

This time, I didn't look back.

...

My mother's chest heaved several times as she stared at me, her eyes red.

She was begging me to let Sandra off.

I glanced at my dad. He was smoking in silence, not even lifting his head.

My brother's eyes flickered, and his face too said he expected me to back down.

Ever since my mother adopted Sandra, I, as the older sister, had to put her first in everything.

She took a liking to my room, so I had to give it to her.

She didn't want to share a room with me, so I had to move into the guest room that didn't get any sun.

She was allergic to milk, so I had to drink smoothies with her every day.

They memorized every one of her likes and things she couldn't have, yet somehow forgot mine.

They didn't know I was allergic to soy. A smoothie broke me out in a rash, bad enough that my breathing turned short.

I thought that one day I'd be able to say all these grievances I'd bottled up.

But watching them, one after another, desperately shielding Sandra...

I suddenly laughed.

And as I laughed, the tears came, and I couldn't stop them.

Seeing me like that, Sandra climbed off Ronnie and knelt down in front of me.

Right on cue, her eyes reddened and her voice went hoarse.

"Sis, it's all my fault. If you have to blame someone, blame me."

"Please don't blame Mom and Dad, don't blame Ronnie. It's all my fault."

"I'll go divorce Ronnie right now. Please, please don't blame them. I'll kowtow to you and beg your forgiveness!"

As she spoke, she slammed her forehead against the floor, thud after thud.

I looked down at her, my voice very soft.

"Are you done? If you're done, wipe the floor clean. You've dirtied it."

Sandra's crying stopped short. She looked up at me blankly, at a loss for how to respond.

My parents and brother rushed to her side, glaring at me fiercely.

Ronnie walked up to me and slapped me across the face.

"Your parents have explained everything to you, and Sandy has already apologized."

"Why are you still pushing so hard?"

"Are you only going to be satisfied once you've driven Sandy to her death?"

The moment he finished, Sandra suddenly clutched her stomach, her face twisted in pain.

"Ronnie, don't hit my sister. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have taken you from her."

"It's just..." she paused, "my stomach hurts so much."

Then her eyes shut and she fainted.

Ronnie immediately took Sandra from my parents and shouted at my brother.

"Go get the car, quick, take Sandy to the hospital!"

My brother bolted out the door.

My mother's face was streaked with tears, her eyes full of disappointment in me.

"Meg, you'd better pray Sandy is all right."

"Otherwise, I'll act as if I never had a daughter like you."

The door slammed shut.

The room went silent in an instant.

Watching them leave, I suddenly remembered that when I was seven, I drank a smoothie for the first time and broke out in a rash all over, unable to breathe.

My mom said I was being dramatic. In the end it was my brother who realized something was wrong and took me to the hospital.

In all these years, had they ever treated me as their own daughter?

In the middle of my grief, I unexpectedly spotted the blood donation certificate under the coffee table.

I took it out and wiped off the dust. It read Meg Henson, my name.

I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and put the certificate in my bag.

At the worst possible moment, my phone rang.

It was my brother.

"Meg, Sandy's kidneys are failing, she urgently needs a transplant. Get to the hospital right away and get tested for a match."

I thought I'd misheard, and couldn't help but ask.

"What did you say?"

"I said get to the hospital and be a match for Sandy. My type doesn't fit, and Mom and Dad are too old to risk it!"

I stood frozen in place, my mind completely blank.

My brother's voice was still ringing through the phone.

My lips moved a few times, and in the end I only managed to force out one word: "Fine!"

I know the debt of being given life is greater than the heavens.

I opened my bag, took out that blood donation certificate, and looked at it. Then I found paper and a pen and wrote out a disownment agreement, stroke by stroke.

As long as they signed it, I would give Sandra my kidney.

From this day forward, the Henson family would have no more Meg Henson!

The moment I got to the hospital, Ronnie came striding toward me.

His face was livid, and he reached out to grab me.

"Hurry up, Sandy can't wait. Go get tested for a match right now."

I dodged his hand and looked at him coldly.

"Where are my parents?"

He froze for a second, then turned impatient.

"After everything, you're still standing here wasting time."

"Don't you get it? Sandy can't wait any longer!"

I stared into his eyes and said it word by word.

"Let me see them, or I won't do the match!"

He had just pulled out his phone to dial a number.

At the far end of the hallway, my parents and my brother came out.

When they saw me still standing there, their faces fell at once.

My mother came over and shot me a sour look.

"Your brother already told you about Sandy's situation. Instead of hurrying to get tested for a match, you're wasting time here."

"I'll do the match, that's fine!"

My voice was clear and crisp, and their eyes lit up instantly.

"But I need you to sign something."

As I said it, I waved the disownment agreement I'd prepared in front of them.

My parents and my brother took one look, and their faces went dark at once.

My mother snatched the disownment agreement out of my hand and stared at me in disbelief.

"You ungrateful daughter! You want to disown us?"

"Meg, it's just one kidney. You're healthylosing one is no big deal."

He said it so lightly, as if he were talking about chopping some scallions.

I pointed at the agreement in his hand, my voice leaving no room for argument.

"I already saidsign it, and I'll go get tested for the match right away."

They exchanged a glance, and my mother's legs gave out. She crumpled to the floor, slapping her thighs and wailing.

"Everyone, come look! The younger sister is dying, and the older sister just stands by and lets her die!"

"What did I do to deserve this? They're trying to drive me to my death!"

Before long, the patients and families around us were all drawn in by my mother's shouting.

Before long, a crowd had gathered around.

When my mother saw that things had gotten out of hand, she stood up off the ground and spread out the disownment agreement for everyone to see.

She pointed to each clause of the disownment agreement, airing her grievances about me.

My dad, my brother, and Ronnie stood off to the side, saying nothing.

It was as if the whole thing had nothing to do with them, as if they were just part of the crowd of onlookers.

I watched a few eager bystanders filming with their phones.

Then I looked at my mom, still going on and on in righteous indignation.

Suddenly I felt so tired.

Seeing that I stayed silent, my mother assumed I couldn't hear the crowd's condemnation, and she deliberately raised her voice.

"You all see this? No matter what I say, she doesn't feel a thing."

"What a sin! Her sister is waiting in the operating room for her to save her life, and she's got a heart of stone."

Those two simple lines successfully stirred up public outrage.

"If my daughter did that, I'd break her legs!"

"Even tigers don't eat their own cubs. Her own sister needs surgery, and not only won't she help, she's making a scene about cutting ties."

"You said it. Back in the old days, someone like that would've been drowned in a pig cage."

"You've got to feel for parents. What family wouldn't be heartbroken going through something like this?"

Wave after wave of condemnation reached my ears.

I looked at the crowd, their faces full of curses and disgust, and I chose to ignore them.

I knew all too well that they were all fence-sitters. The moment the wind blew, they'd sway whichever way.

Not one of them would bother to learn how it all really came about. They were just griping about the thing itself.

I let a moment pass, then faced the crowd, my voice cold.

"I understand that this lady doesn't know the truth, and the cruel things she just said to me, I can let go!"

"But if any of you go on to spread slander online, I will absolutely take legal action."

The noise that had just filled the air went quiet at once.

I ignored their bewildered faces and turned my attention to my mother.

"If you think Sandy has time to waste, then go ahead and keep making a spectacle here."

"Either way, unless the three of you sign, I will never go get tested for a match."

I made my way through the crowd and sat down on the bench in the corridor.

The moment I sat down, Ronnie came over, grabbed my wrist, and stared hard at me.

"Meg, I've known you for years, and I never realized you were this vicious!"

"Sandy's hanging between life and death, and not only will you not save her, you're forcing your parents to cut ties with you."

"I must have been blind back then to ever fall for a piece of garbage like you."

I sneered at him and jabbed my finger into his chest, over and over.

"You think you're such a great catch?"

"Giving me a birthday present to my face while behind my back you were carrying on with my adopted sister, and even got a marriage license."

"Ronnie!"

I stared into his eyes, my voice icy.

"You make me sick."

Just then a familiar voice came from beside me.

"This is a hospital, not a place for you to fight."

Then he called down the corridor.

"Who's family for Sandra Henson?"

Before the words were even out, Ronnie shoved me aside and grabbed the doctor's hand like a madman.

"I'm her husband. How is my wife?"

The doctor frowned, looked up at my parents, and asked.

"The patient is in critical condition and needs surgery urgently. Have you found a match?"

"We found one! We found one!"

My mom tugged at my sleeve and then handed me the signed disownment agreement.

"Now, will you go get tested for the match?"

I looked at Ronnie's reddened eyes, that anxious look on his face, something I'd never seen before.

I clutched the agreement tightly and walked into the testing room.

"Mom, Dad, brother, Ronnie!"

"Our family ties are finally coming to an end!"

The typing results would take two hours.

A nurse wheeled me into a private room, told me to rest, and said they'd let me know when the results came in.

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling hollow inside.

Just then, the door opened.

Mom and Dad came in.

My mom had a smile on her face as she set my phone on the bedside table.

"Meg, it's a match. Sandy is finally saved."

"Surgery is at nine tomorrow morning."

I didn't look at her. I kept my head down, looking at my phone.

She went on.

"Mom knows I embarrassed you just now. Don't worryonce Sandy is better, Mom will definitely make it up to you!"

I looked at that hypocritical face of hers and found it laughable.

She was going to make it up to me?

This was the first time in my life my mother had ever made me a promise.

Seeing that I was unmoved, she sighed and stood up.

"Get some rest first. Mom will make you some soup tonight."

From start to finish, I didn't say a single word.

I thought to myself, forget it.

Once the surgery was over, I'd finally be square with this family.

After they left, my stomach suddenly started hurting, so I took my phone and went into the bathroom.

About five minutes later, the door opened again.

I was about to ask why they'd come back when a man's voice came from outside the door.

"Where's Meg Henson?"

It was Dr. Chavez, the one who'd just done the typing test on me.

What was he doing here?

Just as I was wondering, a woman's voice spoke up.

"I saw the family go out a minute ago. She's probably in the restroom."

"Put the sleeping pills in her cup, and tonight take her to the private clinic."

Dr. Chavez's voice came again.

"Is this really okay? This is a life-and-death thing. Wasn't her result actually not a match?"

She must be a nurse, and probably a young one.

"I've altered the diagnosis, and I've briefed the family. Told them the typing was a success."

"You have no idea how thrilled they were to hear it. Remember, we take people's money to make their troubles go away."

"You just need to do your part. Even if something really does go wrong, they're the ones responsible."

"Did you get the pills in place? Don't let her see them."

After they left, I quietly stopped the recording.

I was completely stunned.

So Sandra didn't have kidney failure at all.

This whole thing was a trap she'd set for me. She'd bribed the doctor.

Putting together everything they'd just said, I couldn't help sucking in a cold breath.

Luckily, it wasn't my time to dieI'd found out the truth.

Coming out of the bathroom, I poured all the water from the bedside table into the sink.

I'd barely set the cup down when Dr. Chavez pushed the door open and walked in, a smile piled on his face.

"Congratulations, you're a match. Let me go over a few things you need to keep in mind."

I pretended not to know anything and nodded at him.

"Where did you go just now? You weren't here when I came in."

I watched his eyes keep sweeping over the water glass on the table, and I couldn't help smiling.

"I just went to the restroomthe room was so stuffyand when I came back I drank a big glass of water."

He handed me the form in his hand.

"Good. These are the instructions for tomorrow. You can look them over."

"I still have other patients, so get some rest."

I took the form and murmured a reply.

Only when the door closed did I keep my eyes fixed firmly on the spot where he'd left.

Good thing I was quick enough to figure he might come back.

I'd dealt with that glass of water earlyotherwise the consequences would have been unthinkable.

I uploaded the two audio clips to the cloud, then called the police task force.

"Hello, I'd like to report a crime. Someone is trying to harm me."

I gave them the address.

I hung up.

I stared at the uploaded audio, the corners of my mouth lifting.

Sandra.

Weren't you so worried I'd steal the family's and Ronnie's affection?

I hope you'll like this little surprise tomorrow.