The reunion with my birth family didn't leave much of a ripple in my life.
Once the semester started, everything got busy.
I'd joined the school's bionic prosthetic-arm project.
That was the whole reason I'd chosen this university.
I slept four hours a night, cycling between the lab, the library, and lectures, squeezing every last minute out of my days.
What I didn't know was that while I was practically shut away from the world, Director Swanson rode a car for more than ten hours to reach the Fox family's mansion.
"Hello, I'm here to see Sharon Swanson. The daughter the Fox family just found."
After the butler announced her, Clive and Phyllis came out together.
Clive looked the middle-aged woman up and down, and anger surfaced on his face.
"So you're the orphanage director, Swanson. And you actually have the nerve to show up here. I donated all that money to your orphanage, and this is how you repay me? Look at what you turned my daughter into."
Director Swanson didn't catch his meaning. She assumed I'd done something to upset them.
She put on a smile at once, her voice low and humble.
"Sharon's a bit stubborn, that's all, but she has a good heart. If she did something wrong, please don't take it to heart."
"These past years haven't been easy for her. As her parents, you should try to be more understanding."
"Where is Sharon? Let her come out, I'll talk to her. That little brat, now that she's got a real mom and dad she forgets all about her director. Not even one phone call."
Director Swanson was scolding me with her words, but her face was lit up brighter than anyone's.
Hearing the director call me a little brat, Phyllis frowned, her tone cooling.
"You've come too late. She isn't here."
"She tried to hurt my daughter. We couldn't keep her in this house."
The smile froze on Director Swanson's face.
"I'm sorry, what happened with Sharon? At the orphanage she was always so good, so obedient. Surely there's some misunderstanding."
"And isn't Sharon your daughter? Or do you mean the girl you adopted?"
Clive gave a cold snort, contempt dripping from his voice.
"Hmph. Misunderstanding?"
"Her very first day back, Marlene kindly brought her flowers. She kept her hands stuffed in her pockets and wouldn't even glance at them."
"We laid out a huge welcome dinner for her, a whole table of food, and she didn't touch a bite."
"She hunched over and gnawed on plain rice like a dog. Does she think the Fox household is some kennel?"
"We could put up with all of that. What she should never have done was hurt Marlene, over and over."
"Marlene may be adopted, but she's polite and kind. In our hearts, she's the one who's our real daughter."
The more she listened, the darker Director Swanson's face grew, until it looked ready to drip.
"That's enough. Mr. Abbott, Mrs. Abbott, I respect you as Sharon's parents, but she's the child I raised, and I won't let you slander her like this."
"Her hands may be gone, but she has never once blamed the world for it. At the orphanage she was always helping everyone with their work."
"A girl like that, and you're telling me she bullies people? I don't believe it."
Hearing her defend me, Phyllis let out a scoffing laugh.
"Oh, Director Swanson knows my daughter so well? Then did you know she got behind the wheel and tried to run Marlene down?"
"That isn't slander. That's a fact."
Director Swanson was so furious she laughed.
"You're saying Sharon drove a car trying to kill your adopted daughter? That's the biggest joke I've heard in my entire life."
Her hand shaking, she tapped her phone awake. The lock screen was a photo I'd taken at the beach last summer.
The girl in it was smiling brightly, missing only that pair of quick, nimble hands.
Phyllis snatched the phone from her, and her face changed in an instant.
"This... this is impossible!!!!"
