On the day my fiancé got engaged to the "real" daughter, I thought about driving my car straight into the ceremony. I wanted to end it all, take them with me in a blaze of glory. But just as that manic thought consumed me, my phone rang. It was the hospital. "Miss Quinn, you're pregnant..." I killed the engine and sat there, frozen. Thirty minutes later, as joyous music drifted from the engagement hall, I started the car, made a U-turn, and headed for the airport. From that moment on, the "fake" daughter of the Quinn family disappeared from New York, just as everyone wanted. I moved to a small southern town a thousand miles away. I barely survived a disaster, gave birth to my daughter—my own flesh and blood—and cut all ties with my past. Until four years later, when they started showing up, one by one. 1 The first time I saw Silas again after four years was at the kindergarten gate. I had just picked up my daughter, Lily, when another mom nudged me. "Hey, Lily's mom, look across the street. That guy looks like that famous singer... what's his name again?" I followed her gaze and saw him. "Silas!" The mom slapped her forehead. "Right, Silas! The singer-songwriter who's been sweeping all the awards lately! "You know, honestly, he kind of looks like you. Both of you have those good genes..." I looked away. "Never heard of him." She looked surprised. "You don't listen to music? That's Silas! And really, looking closely, you two could be siblings..." I smiled, shook my head, and held Lily's hand tighter as we walked away. "Sarah." His voice came from behind me. I ignored it and kept walking. "Sarah Quinn!" Lily looked up. "Mommy, is that man calling you? Why did he call you Sarah Quinn?" I smiled down at her. "He mistook me for someone else, sweetie." But as I reached for my car door in the parking lot, someone grabbed my arm. I turned around. It was Silas, out of breath. "Sarah... you're actually alive?!" His words were as sharp and stinging as ever. But maybe because he had been running, the rims of his eyes were slightly red. 2 I dropped Lily off at a neighbor's house. When I came back downstairs, Silas was standing there with his hands in his pockets. "Why do you live in a dump like this? Where's your apartment? I want to see it." I shook my head. "No need." Four years ago, he told me his only sister was Sophie. He told me that being called "brother" by someone like me made him sick. When my adoptive brother, Ethan Quinn, kicked me out, and my fiancé, Lucas, abandoned me, I had nowhere to go. I thought of Silas, my biological brother. I stood outside his agency all night in a snowstorm, freezing to the bone. But all I got was him saying his biggest wish was that I had never been born. "If you weren't born, Sophie wouldn't have been switched at birth. She wouldn't have suffered so much. "Sister? Don't make me laugh. The Quinns threw you out, so now you're playing the blood-relation card? "I'll never acknowledge someone like you as my sister." That was when I realized: no matter how good I was to him, he would always hate me because of Sophie. Now, he looked at me with that same scrutinizing gaze. "Is that kid Lucas's? Did you run away just to have his baby?" I was silent for a moment. "She's my child. Mine alone." He scoffed. "Sarah, she looks exactly like him. Do you think I'm blind? "Did you think having a secret baby would win him back? You're delusional... "It's pathetic. Truly stupid..." "I said, she is my child," I interrupted. "I never planned on going back to New York. I never planned on using her to fight Sophie for Lucas. You can relax. You don't need to be so aggressive. "Like you said years ago, other than blood, we're strangers. I'm not interested in your life, so please stay out of mine." He froze. "If there's nothing else, you should leave." I turned to go. "Wait." He grabbed my arm again. He opened his mouth, then closed it. "You... you..." I frowned. "What?" "Why did you leave back then?" I looked at him calmly. "You were a spoiled princess who couldn't do anything. Just because people said a few mean things, you played the runaway victim? "If I hadn't seen you today, how long were you planning to live in this poverty? And these past four years..." He paused. "How... how did you survive?" 3 I looked at his red-rimmed eyes. He was probably angry. Surprised I was alive. Because my existence was a threat to Sophie's happiness. How did I survive? Someone traded their life for mine. But I didn't need to tell him that. The old Sarah Quinn was a delicate flower, helpless without support. The new Sarah Song doesn't cry or beg anyone for anything. Seeing my silence, he got agitated. "Why are you so slow now? Did that big earthquake down here a few years ago shake your brain loose? "Running to a godforsaken place like this... you deserved to get caught in an earthquake." Just then, a neighbor walked by. "Hey, Sarah! Haven't started dinner yet?" I smiled. "Just about to." Silas stared. "You should go," I said. But he wouldn't let go. "Why did you change your name? Sarah Song? Did you get married? Who's Song?" "It's none of your business," I said, prying his fingers off my arm, one by one. "My name, my life... Silas, it has nothing to do with you." 4 Silas was a celebrity. He couldn't be seen making a scene in public. I went upstairs, picked up Lily, and watched from the window as he stood downstairs, looking lost. He never cared about me before. His confusion now was probably just because he wasn't used to my coldness. Four years ago, when I found out about his musical dreams, I used every connection I had in New York to get him a stage. I got him into the best agency. He was my brother. He had suffered growing up poor. I wanted him to succeed. But he twisted my kindness, claiming I was just trying to isolate Sophie and make her feel bad. "Mommy, is that man your family?" I paused, then smiled and stroked Lily's hair. "No, honey. Why would you think that?" "Just guessing. You look alike." Family. Ethan Quinn's face flashed in my mind. I always thought Ethan would be my brother forever, blood or no blood. But four years ago, he held Sophie—who had "fallen" down the stairs—and looked at me with pure rage. "Sarah, you are a disappointment. "From today on, you are not a Quinn. You are not my sister. "My only sister is Sophie." I cried, I begged, I swore I didn't push her. But he kicked me away and carried Sophie out without looking back. I shook my head. "That man is not Mommy's family." She looked disappointed. "I thought maybe I had other family besides Uncle Sam." I tapped her nose. "Mommy has you, and we have Uncle Sam in our hearts. That's enough." "But Uncle Sam is gone..." She pouted. "I miss him." I understood. But disappointment is better than the pain of being loved and then discarded. I've been through it. I won't let my daughter go through it. I just didn't expect to see Ethan the very next day.
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