Chapter 3

Early the next morning, I leave the apartment and go to a nearby pharmacy.

After three years of cheap medication and treatment, insomnia has become part of my life.

Some nights, I don't sleep at all.

My doctor has prescribed sleeping pills before, so getting another refill doesn't raise any questions.

I come home with a full bottle in my bag.

Mom, Dad, Ryan, Adrian, and Olivia are eating breakfast.

The second Mom sees me walk through the door, she stands.

“Nora? You went out?”

She hurries over.

Her fingers brush near my eyes, then my ears.

The movement is quick, almost nervous.

“When did your vision and hearing get better?”

I pause.

Then I slowly shake my head.

“They didn't.”

I lower my eyes.

“I still can't see much. And I can barely hear.”

“I just went out to buy something.”

Mom visibly relaxes.

So does everyone else.

Olivia smiles and holds out her hand.

“Did you buy me a birthday present?”

She gives me a playful look.

“My birthday's coming up too, you know.”

I look at her.

“Sleeping pills.”

I lift the bottle slightly.

“Want them?”

Her smile disappears.

“Nora.”

She pouts.

“You're so cheap.”

Then she sighs dramatically.

“You really don't like me, do you?”

I say nothing.

A month ago, Mom and Dad told me Olivia had always felt guilty about what happened when we were babies.

We were switched.

She grew up with my parents, in the life that should have been mine.

They told me she had suffered too.

They wanted me to give her a birthday gift as a sign that I accepted her as family.

So I tried.

I haven't been able to work since my condition got worse.

To save money, I asked the nurses at the hospital if I could help collect empty plastic bottles and cardboard packaging for recycling.

It takes me a month to save eighteen dollars.

There's a small hair clip in a store window that Olivia once stopped to look at.

It costs fifteen.

I was going to buy it for her.

But now...

I have something else planned for that money.

Something for myself.

Freedom.

Mom finally notices the bottle in my hand.

Her face tightens again.

“Nora, why did you buy so many sleeping pills?”

I force a weak smile.

“I can't sleep.”

That's nothing unusual.

I've taken them before.

No one questions me again.

A few minutes later, the alarm in the living room goes off.

Their daily signal.

Time to “go to work.”

Everyone moves at once.

Dad grabs his worn jacket.

Mom picks up the cheap tote bag she uses for cleaning jobs.

Ryan and Adrian reach for the delivery bags they keep near the door.

The show begins again.

Olivia grabs her purse too quickly and bumps into a chair.

Something falls out.

A brand-new phone box hits the floor.

Still sealed.

The model was released only days ago.

The entire room goes silent.

Olivia's face changes.

“I...”

She doesn't even finish.

Dad turns and slaps me across the face.

My head jerks to the side.

“Nora!”

His face turns red with anger.

“Did you buy this?”

I slowly look at him.

“Do you have any idea how much a phone like this costs?”

He points at me.

“Your mother and I work ourselves half to death. Ryan and Adrian take delivery after delivery.”

“We can barely afford your treatment.”

His voice gets louder.

“And you're wasting money on a new phone?”

“Can't you think about this family for once?”

My cheek burns.

Since the cancer got worse, my mind is often foggy.

My memory has started failing too.

So whenever something expensive accidentally appears in this apartment, they blame me.

Then they tell me I forgot.

Before, I argued.

I checked receipts.

I searched through bank statements.

I tried to prove the things weren't mine.

Today, I'm too tired.

“Sorry,” I whisper.

Everyone freezes.

Dad stares at me.

Mom looks at Ryan.

For a second, none of them seems to know what to say.

They expected me to fight back.

When I don't, they finally relax.

One by one, they leave for their fake jobs.

Olivia stays behind.

She looks at me for a little too long.

There's something nervous in her eyes.

“Nora.”

Her voice is careful.

“Did you find out something?”

I stare back at her.

“Find out what?”

The tension disappears from her face.

She smiles.

“Nothing.”

Then she picks up her bag and leaves.

A few seconds later, I hear her voice from the hallway.

She's on the phone.

“Is the story ready?”

I go still.

“Good. Push it everywhere.”

Her voice drops.

“Use something like, ‘Bennett Family's Biological Daughter Returns After Cancer Diagnosis. Olivia Bennett Forced Aside.’”

She laughs softly.

“I want everyone to think Nora only came looking for this family because she needed someone to pay her medical bills.”

My fingers tighten around the bottle in my hand.

Olivia keeps talking.

“And the birthday party?”

A pause.

“Destroy the cake Ryan and Adrian ordered for her. Say there was an accident during delivery.”

“The gift from Mom and Dad too. Hold it back. Say someone damaged it.”

Another pause.

“Tomorrow is my birthday.”

Her voice turns cold.

“There will only be one daughter everyone is celebrating.”

“And as long as I'm here, Nora Bennett will never take my place in this family.”

Her footsteps disappear down the hall.

I sit there without moving.

So that's her plan.

The rumors.

The ruined gifts.

The destroyed cake.

Every little accident is meant to keep me from officially becoming a Bennett.

She has worked so hard to make sure I never make it through that door.

But there's one thing Olivia hasn't considered.

What if I don't live long enough to walk through it?