For Adopted Daughter, My Parents Ruin Me

After being exposed for “plagiarizing” my adopted sister’s song, a mob of rabid fans dragged me into an abandoned factory.

They left me broken–my throat slit, vocal cords severed, fingers and legs twisted into grotesque shapes.

When they found me, my superstar parents vowed to hunt down every last one of my tormentors.

Their connections ran deep, their fury deeper.

Even my CEO brother pulled strings, summoning the world’s top surgeons to piece me back together.

Yet outside the operating room, my mother’s voice wavered.

“Evangeline plagiarizing Julienne’s work was wrong, but… this punishment is too cruel, isn’t it?”

My father’s laugh was ice.

“She brought this on herself. Ten years we’ve sheltered her, let her steal Julienne’s affection. And still, it wasn’t enough. She had to take her song too.”

My brother’s agreement was swift, venomous.

“She’s our blood, yet she’s spent years suffocating Julienne. This time, we make sure Julienne wins the Starlight Music Award–no matter what it takes. As for Evangeline?” A cold pause. “Dog vocal cords will do. Let her bark instead of sing.”

The pain was a wildfire, but their words burned worse.

Tears carved paths through the blood on my face.

“Make amends to my family“, he’d said.

Yet here they were, sacrificing me for their precious fraud.