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I packed everything up and told the landlord I was giving up the lease.
Then I called my mentor.
He told me that from now on I would be absorbed into a classified unit, and after that no one would be able to find any record of me.
I agreed, of course.
After all… my presence had never once made them comfortable, so there was no reason left to worry about them.
I opened my phone and happened to see the photos Abigail had posted online.
"On a trip with Mom and Dad!"
"The three of us, the most loving family there is!"
Reading her caption, I smiled a little.
Right. They were the family of three.
And me, I was only the extra one.
So why had I done so many humiliating things just to win their approval?
After giving up the lease, I called my mentor.
He told me the project was short-staffed right now, and I could start immediately.
"Melinda, are you sure? No one you need to say goodbye to?"
His voice came through the phone. "You have to understand, once you enter this classified unit, for several years your family and friends won't have any contact with you at all."
"Sir, I'm an orphan, and I didn't really make any friends while I was studying."
"So there's no one I need to say goodbye to."
The moment I finished, he told me he'd already booked my flight.
As for my records, they would be hidden automatically the day I started.
I understood exactly what that meant.
"All right. Thank you, sir."
I said it and hung up right away.
That same day he sent me a plane ticket, and I took it straight to the airport.
Once I got there, my phone rang, abrupt and jarring.
I glanced at the screen. It was Belinda Gilbert calling.
"Melinda, Mom knows you feel wronged."
"But you have to think about Abby too."
"She's innocent."
"Ever since you came back, Abby's been so unhappy, so all we could do was take her on a trip to help her clear her head."
"And your side of things, your dad and I will make it up to you."
She said it so gently, and I smiled.
Abigail had been the heiress for twenty-some years. Her mother swapped me for her, and Abigail was the one who felt wronged.
And me?
Thrown into an orphanage as a baby, and I wasn't allowed to feel wronged.
It wasn't that they thought Abigail had been wronged. It was that their hearts had leaned her way a long time ago.
"All right, I understand."
My voice stayed flat. "Mrs. Gilbert, enjoy your trip."
The moment I finished, Belinda fell silent on the other end.
"Melinda, is this how you speak to me?"
"I knew it. No home training from the start, so you never even learned how a person should talk."
She gave a cold snort. "Take a good look at yourself."
"When we're back, we'll teach you some manners properly."
I listened to her and smiled.
All I'd said was "Mrs. Gilbert," and to her that meant I had no manners.
While Abigail could throw a screaming fit at home and feel perfectly righteous about it.
"No need, Mrs. Gilbert. From now on, you'll never get the chance to teach me any manners."
