You replaced me

The polished silence of the police office in France felt heavy, suffocating Kendall. Her ribs throbbed, a familiar ache she tried to ignore, just as she tried to ignore the news that had just been delivered.

Alessandro. Her eldest brother. The one who'd abandoned her at a cold orphanage when she was just five. He was taking custody. She was going back 'home' to Italy.

Her mind reeled, a bitter cocktail of relief and resentment. They’d thrown her away, left her to rot in Gaston’s cruel hands, while they lived in luxury. And then, the audacity: they’d replaced her. She’d seen the photos, stalked them online from school computers. A 'new sister' named May, living the life that should have been hers.

"Kendall! Kendall, sweetheart?" Silvia, her social worker, chirped, her voice jarring against Kendall’s internal turmoil.

Kendall forced a small, brittle smile. "Oh, hm, sorry! Just thinking."

She couldn't tell Silvia about the beatings, about the words carved into her skin, the constant fear. "Lovely father," Silvia had called Gaston. Kendall almost choked on the lie. One more hit, and she might snap in half.

Now, she was being sent back to the very people who had broken her in the first place. The bastards.