The whole thing could have been a trap, planned from the start.
All these years, I'd ignored my own flesh and blood and swallowed a stranger's lies instead.
Pushing Emma away again and again, even doubting she was really mine.
I raised my hand and slapped myself across the face.
"Mom was wrong… Mom was a fool."
Emma rushed forward and caught my hand. Her tears fell onto the back of it.
"Mom, I don't care if you yell at me. I'm only scared you'll stop wanting me."
My eyes burned as I pulled her into my arms.
"I'm sorry, Em. I blamed you for nothing. It was all Mom's fault."
"From now on I'll only trust you. I won't listen to anyone else."
Emma let out a breath against my ear and smiled. "It's okay, Mom. We're family. No scammer's going to break that with a few words."
But when I closed my eyes,
all I could see was the blind girl's face, impossible to shake.
So much sadness written across it, so much hurt.
Her face had been ruined, yet something about her still felt so familiar it ached.
A few days later, the blind girl found me again.
"Mom, what happened? Do you believe I'm your daughter now?"
She wrote the words on paper, her hand shaking with urgency.
I stared at her coldly. "Enough!"