Chapter 3

Eleanor's face was distant, cold.

"Maya, since the truth is out, and you're not a Sterling by blood, this birthday party is solely for our precious daughter, Chloe. You have no right to be here."

I glanced up at Chloe, her face radiating triumph.

She wore a custom-made princess gown, a tiara on her head that probably cost as much as a house.

Then I looked at myself: a faded shirt and jeans, frayed at the cuffs from countless washes.

I smiled bitterly.

Right. That word. It was something I'd never truly had, so how could I lose it now?

Richard's voice boomed, "Starting today, you'll move into the maid's quarters. Out of the goodness of my heart, you can stay here as our housemaid until you find your birth parents. I'll pay you fifty dollars a month, no food or board, to start repaying us for the seventeen years of raising you."

Whispers erupted among the guests.

I felt like a humiliated clown, surrounded by their mocking stares, as I bent down to pick up my backpack.

Chloe rushed over, snatching my backpack with a powerful tug.

The broken zipper, held together by a single safety pin, instantly burst open, spilling my things everywhere.

"Aha!" Chloe shrieked. "I knew it! You are stealing from us!"

Among the scattered books and papers, a pink sanitary pad lay exposed on the floor.

Eleanor's face tightened with discomfort. "Chloe, it's fine. It's just a sanitary pad."

But Chloe wouldn't back down. "Mommy, I'm the only child of the Sterling family now! What is she, anyway? She's sponged off us for years and now she's stealing our things? I say she doesn't deserve it, she doesn't deserve anything!"