The Lie of Blood Ties
Chapter 1
Last time around, I actually went through with meeting my biological parents.
Big mistake.
The next day, they were all over social media, calling me heartless for letting my sister die.
The internet went ballistic. I was public enemy number one. Ended up having a breakdown and jumping off a building.
This time, I woke up right back at that adoption reunion.
Those same two people who dumped me as a baby were up on stage, putting on a total act:
“Oh, Brittany, honey, we’re so sorry. We lost you when you were just a little thing.”
“But we searched, sugar. We looked for you for over twenty years…”
I grabbed the mic, gave them my best smile, and said, “Liar, liar, pants on fire. Hope you enjoy the lightning strike coming your way.”
Outside, the sun vanished, and a bolt of lightning lit up the sky with a deafening crack.
1.
I’m kind of a regular on this reality show about finding families. They broadcast it live, so people watching can help connect the dots for folks who were lost or, you know, given away like unwanted puppies.
On stage were this couple, dressed like they’d been sleeping in a dumpster, sobbing about their long-lost eldest daughter.
Going on and on about how much they missed her, how guilty they felt.
The woman was really laying it on thick, practically hyperventilating.
But something didn’t add up. These people looked broke, but they were talking like they were heading up a corporation.
Then this bright red banner flashed across the screen in the comments: “They’re dressed like hobos, but they talk like millionaires? Something’s fishy with this pair.”
The audience was getting suspicious.
I kept my face blank, watching their performance. But my fingers were flying across my phone, sending a text.
If we were sticking to the script, this is where I’m supposed to burst into tears, stand up, and plead with the viewers to help this poor couple.
But I remember everything from last time, and those two Oscar-worthy performers on stage? They’re the ones who left me in a dumpster as a newborn.
I got to my feet, smoothed out my dress. I didn’t want to deal with them, but now was my part.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” I said, trying to sound serious. “When exactly did your daughter go missing? What time of year? What was she wearing? And, just to be clear, where did she go missing?”
That threw them for a loop.
They came looking for me, so my questions were a little more direct than they anticipated.
“Uh, I, uh…”
The woman, Brenda, looked flustered. She glanced at the guy next to her, then at the host, totally lost.
“What’s wrong? Can’t answer any of these basic questions?” I asked.
She looked at me, mouth opening and closing like a fish.
But I wasn’t finished.
“You’re up here talking about how much you miss your daughter, how much you love her, but you can’t remember anything about her at all?”
“Isn’t it more likely that your daughter didn’t just wander off? Isn’t it more likely that you abandoned her?”
Silence filled the studio.
Last time, I was so swept up in their emotions, I almost fell for it.
The show’s host and producers had been in on it, asking me to make my decision and join my “family” on live television.
They even patched in my loving adoptive parents, who encouraged me to reconnect with Brenda and her husband.
Back then, I hesitated for only a second, just because it was so overwhelming.
And the internet went crazy, calling me ungrateful, saying I had a heart of stone.
That day, I went through with the reunion, and everything went downhill.
After the show, we didn’t talk much, but I heard from them the next day during a live broadcast.
They said I was evil because I wouldn’t pay for my little sister’s medical bills.
But I didn’t know about the sister, or her illness!
So there was no way I could have helped her.
But online people kept bullying me. I was emotionally depressed and broken, and I eventually killed myself.
It’s ridiculous, but only after death did I find out that my sister was rising popstar Brittany Moon.
Back in reality, I stood up and stared at Brenda and her husband.
I pointed toward the sky, my voice icy. “People who lie get struck by lightning and die a miserable death.”
As soon as I said that, the beautiful weather outside turned dark, stormy, and dangerous.
2.
Their whole plan to pressure me into a reunion had just been completely destroyed.
Brenda and her husband shared a desperate glance, and immediately dropped to their knees in front of the host.
The host fell to his knees as well, making the moment look more bizarre.
“We, we didn’t mean to,” Brenda blubbered.
“You gotta understand, the baby was a twin. When she was born, the labor was tough. When she came out, she was blue and barely breathing. The doctor said she wasn’t going to make it.”
“We didn’t know what to do…”
“We were poor, we didn’t have the money to raise two kids. And the doctor said she wasn’t going to live, anyway…”
Brenda became more and more upset and fragile as she spoke.
She was telling her story about why she had to abandon me, but I was becoming furious.
“Wow, Brenda, you just said that the doctor declared the baby dead. Then why did you try to find her after 25 years?”
“As far as I know, you told the show that she was the older twin, but everyone knows the firstborn rarely survives a difficult labor. And the second twin has even lower chances of surviving because she would experience oxygen deprivation.
“So, what else are you hiding?”
The whole time, Brenda’s husband had remained silent. Brenda opened and closed her mouth, trying to find words.
The next moment, she fainted.
The host did CPR on her, and as he went to call the ambulance, Brenda opened her eyes.
When she woke up, she looked at me with tears in her eyes. “I’m old, I just want to see my daughter, just for one second. If I’m lucky, I want to hear her call me ‘Mom’…”
The host took the mic so that I couldn’t mess things up. He added extra emotion before saying, “Please look at the big screen.”
A photo of a newborn baby flashed on the screen.
The baby’s skin was icy white, and it looked like she was dying.
On the upper right of the photo was a set of blurry numbers.
It was a picture of me.
Last time, I was so shocked and excited that I hadn’t really looked at the photo. Looking at it carefully, it was clear that the photo was taken with a phone or camera.
I was enraged.
The answer was in their hands, but they still messed it up.
The photo had my birthday on it, but they couldn’t even get that right.
3.
December 4th, 1994.
My adoptive parents were walking out of the hospital, carrying lab results and a diagnosis.
The report said that my adoptive mother was infertile.
They were heartbroken, walking hand in hand on the way home.
As they passed by a dumpster, they heard a baby crying.
My adoptive mother was scared that the police wouldn’t find my real parents, so she used a film camera to take the first photo of me.
In the background was snowy ground and the trash in the dumpster.
My adoptive mother carefully picked me up.
I was wrapped in a thin sheet.
My adoptive father took off his jacket and wrapped me up.
I remember him looking at me with such love as he told me that story.
They rushed to the police station to file a report, but no one came to get me after a week.
My adoptive mother felt bad for me and wanted to adopt me.
As she was leaving the police station, she told the officers, “If the baby’s parents come to find her, please call me. I will tell them to connect.”
She gave them her home phone number, which she still had.
She was still hoping that it would ring one day.
But the phone became a curse for our family.
Last time, Brittany Moon had leukemia, and Brenda thought about her other daughter.
They contacted my adoptive parents and knew that my adoptive father had money, and since I was also a celebrity, they didn’t want to pay for the treatment. They wanted me to donate bone marrow instead.
Back then, I was silly. I gave Brenda a million-dollar credit card and promised to cover the treatment.
But Brenda agreed and stole the credit card. Then, she started live broadcasting and saying that I was evil.
Also, everyone hated the things I did on TV. I was bullied to the point where I donated the bone marrow, but I didn’t last long.
After I died, my adoptive parents were constantly sad, and the guilt was too much for them. Not long after, they passed away.
Looking at Brenda on stage, I was filled with rage.
“System, now!”
“Host, don’t worry!”
“Although I’m a helping system, now you can call me the Punisher of Justice.”
On the broadcast, two words flashed on the screen:
“FAKE”
“LIES!”
Three minutes later, the words disappeared, and people online were going crazy.
The show had to stop.
The guests and audience began to leave. I texted my manager as I was the last one to leave the studio.
4.
When I went backstage, my twin sister, Brittany Moon, was there.
Facing the cameras, she was crying. “I thought that Brittany just looked like me. I didn’t know she was my sister…”
When she saw me, she tried to hug me.
“Sister…”
I hid behind my 300-pound manager.
I felt like I had seen the clothes she was wearing on her hand before.
The manager said, “Ms. Moon, please be respectful. Brittany is an adopted daughter to the Moon family, and Mrs. Moon can’t have children. The whole world knows this. Why would you call her ‘sister’? Are your parents the evil people who left her behind?”
Brittany didn’t know what to do. She was shocked, and her face paled even more.
Tears filled her eyes, and she looked so sad.
“I, I heard that my parents had found my sister, and since we look so much alike, I thought…”
“Thought what? That I was your sister?”
Brittany sobbed and nodded.
I sighed. “How unlucky. I see you at work every day. You know that we look alike, so why didn’t you stop your parents from being on the show? Were you trying to use the media to force me into accepting them? Or were you trying to get more fans?”
Brittany didn’t expect me to say that. She couldn’t speak.
The manager rushed the reporters away, leaving us alone.
When no one was there, Brittany stopped smiling and came up to me.
I had the feeling that her face was red.
“Sister? I hate you! You’re just a popstar. No one would care about you without your fans. I can ruin you if I want. And in reality, you were abandoned by your parents.”
“You don’t know, but you were abandoned on purpose. Your parents said that you had a heart disease and weren’t worth their money!”
I couldn’t stand her bad attitude, so I slapped her.
I already knew the truth in the past.
I turned off the voice recorder in my pocket and slapped her again.
“If your mouth doesn’t stop, I’m going to make your life terrible.”
Before Brittany could say anything, my manager came back.
His heavy footsteps were getting closer, and she didn’t have time to do anything.
She stomped off, wearing her 12-inch heels, and reminded me to be careful about my reputation.
She was right and kind, reminding me.
But I’m not worried about my job. I’m the only heir of the Moon family, and I can inherit the family business if I want to.
I looked at my manager, and we smiled.
5.
The time when I broke down was coming, and I needed to be ready.
On the way back, I got a call from my adoptive mother. Brenda had come to our house.
Also, Brittany Moon had been admitted to the hospital with leukemia.
Wow, she was sicker than anyone I knew.
My adoptive mother said that Brenda and her husband were causing trouble and spreading lies in front of our house.
They claimed that my adoptive parents were the ones who were encouraging me not to accept them.
That was funny. If they didn’t let me come to the show, they wouldn’t have seen that photo of me.
But the result was that Brenda and her husband were rolling around in front of the Moon family’s house.
My adoptive parents bought a house in the suburbs so that I could be close to the city.
Their behavior was going to affect the stock of the Moon family.
And I was a celebrity, so that would affect my fame.
I wasn’t going to allow it.
On the way, I switched places with my manager, and I began to drive.
He gulped and held on tight.
“Brittany, I hate the sight of blood. Don’t be crazy.”
I rolled my eyes and sped up.
When I got close to my house, I saw Brenda and her husband in front of the gate.
I went to the backyard and let out two dogs.
The dogs barked.
Brenda tried to lie down in front of the gate, but I let go of the leash.
When she saw that I wasn’t kidding, she ran away.
6.
“Brittany, we…”
I cut my adoptive mother off. “Mom, I know that you and Dad are doing this for me. You can see what they’re really like. It’s not that I don’t want to accept them, it’s that I can’t.”
They tried to say something else, but I convinced them.
I brought my manager back to my studio to start getting all the evidence I had.
In the past, Brenda and her husband made a live broadcast where they claimed to be mistreated and manipulated me.
Because the reality show was so popular, there were a lot of things that happened that didn’t make sense.
Everyone wondered if I didn’t want to accept my parents because I was too famous.
They took advantage of that and started talking about me.
I wrote down all the things I remembered them saying, and told my manager to find them.
The system told me of some things I forgot.
When everything was ready, it was 8 PM.
Brenda and her husband started broadcasting and saying that I was a bad person.
I started my own broadcast.
Many people went to my stream.
“Isn’t this the popstar who doesn’t want to recognize her parents?”
“Brittany Moon, you should quit the entertainment industry! Your parents didn’t mean to lose you. You wouldn’t pay for your sister’s medical treatment! You’re rich, but you’re so petty.”
“Why is Brittany Moon crying? Is she going to sue me? I’m so scared.”
I showed all the evidence I had.
The first piece of evidence was the photo that my parents took when they found me. The date was clear.
The second piece of evidence was the checkup that my parents took me to the day after they found me. I had a heart disease.
The third piece of evidence was my diagnosis from when I was ten.
After the evidence was shown, some people quieted down.
“Brittany Moon, your parents said that they wanted to see you. They weren’t forcing you to accept them. Why are you being like this?”
“The show has already shown them before, but Brittany insulted them.”
“You insulted your parents. Quit the show!”
The system said, “Host, they’re saying that you’re the heir to the Moon family and that you look down on them because they’re poor. They said that it was a happy day just because they got to see you.”
Wow, they were shameless.
They didn’t say anything about lying in front of my house.
If words could kill, I would be dead.
It was time for justice.
I showed a video of them lying in front of my house from earlier.
The video was played loud.
