The Daughter They Chose to Abandon

I was kidnapped at two years old, and my parents searched for me for eight long years.

When they finally found me, I was working in the fields—thin, in rags, covered in scars from countless beatings.

I could see the disappointment in their eyes. I wasn’t the child they wanted back, not the polished, presentable daughter they had imagined. So I worked harder than anyone else, determined to earn money, to prove my worth.

By twenty, I had a stable job and a well-off boyfriend. We were already talking about marriage.