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“Meaning that you keep saying adoption is the better choice, but sometimes it’s not. I was adopted. I was an un-adoptable child who got adopted at the age of thirteen. Everyone thought it was a miracle, but it turned out to be more of a nightmare.”
“What?” She was adopted? “What happened to you?”
“Hunter, I…” She stopped, looking away from me.
“Let’s go to the kitchen. I’ll make you a cup of tea and you will tell me everything.” I kissed her forehead and eyelids. “If someone hurt you, I need to know because I won’t let that slide.”
We walked downstairs, and Amelia sat silently while I fixed her a cup of chamomile. I wasn’t a tea drinker, but I always had some on hand. It was the only thing that could calm Elena when she had a bad day.
I put the steaming cup in front of her and she gave me a weak smile.
“Thank you.”
“Now talk to me.”
Amelia inhaled and exhaled slowly, counting to three each time.
“I was abandoned at a fire station when I was a few months old. I have no idea who my parents are and honestly, I was never curious to find out.”
“You’ve been in the system.”
“Yes. I was one of the lucky kids. The safe heaven volunteers took me to an orphanage that had decent conditions and they kept me until I turned five. After that, there were foster homes before I got returned to a different orphans’ center. It wasn’t a happy childhood, but it was a childhood which is more than a lot of kids in foster care can say. I was there ‘till I turned thirteen when Michael Hart decided to adopt me.” Amelia shook her head and straightened her back.Michael Hart. She had his name. “He was a widower; his entire family died in a car accident. He was a good man who brought me presents all the time, he was financially stable, warm, kind to everybody, and he was generous enough to want to adopt an older kid, not baby, which is rare. He got approved for the adoption in no time.”
“What did he do?”
“It’s a complicated story, Hunter.”
“No, it’s not. I need to know, Amelia. If this man sexually abused you, you need to tell me right now so I can find him and eviscerate the motherfucker.” I hated that my mind went there, but I’d seen too much pain in this life.
“No, it didn’t get that far. My dad…Michael, he wasn’t as stable as everybody thought he was. I told you his wife and daughter died in a car crash. I discovered soon after moving into his house that his late daughter looked a lot like me.”The fuck?“She had blonde hair and brown eyes, we were the same age…Michael was looking to replace her. After a month in his house, he started to call me Leah, which was her name. I wore her clothes and slept in her bed.”
“Jesus Christ, Amelia.”
“At the time, I didn’t see anything wrong about it. Michael loved Leah, so he was very good to me. Problems started when I couldn’t measure up. Leah was a prodigy child, good at everything. I was clumsy, restless, I wanted to play all the time and didn’t pay attention to my homework. It made Michael really mad. Combined with his love for gin, it was a recipe for disaster.”
“He hurt you physically?”
“Yes. First it was a slap across her face, then a fist in my back…it escalated pretty fast.”
My blood started to rebel in my veins, anger flowing like untamed rivers.
“I’m going to destroy that man. Piece by fucking piece.”
“He’s in jail Hunter. He’s in jail for abuse and will stay there for six more years.”
“That’s not enough, Amelia. Six more years? When he gets out, I’ll make sure he wishes to go back behind bars.” I took her hand in mine and kissed it. “How did you get out?”
“I ran. A few months after my sixteenth birthday he wanted me to play the piano for him. I flunked my lessons, so the song I played was…bad. Leah was very good at playing, and my failure was too much for Michael to handle. I was growing up and every day it became more and more clear to him that I was not his daughter. Leah was dead, and I wasn’t good enough to replace her. He didn’t beat me, but there was a lot of screaming, a lot of fighting, and it scared me to death. He kept asking why I’m not the daughter he remembered. I finally realized how fucked up everything was. Michael was trying to turn me into his dead daughter.”
“Yeah, no shit.”
“I ran away. He bought me a car after I got my license, so I grabbed a few clothes and left. I lived in my car for seven months until a police officer found me. Michael declared me a missing person, so they were looking. I told the police everything when I was brought to the station and I filed charges against Michael Hart. I was lucky to have a good judge who put Michael in jail for physical and emotional abuse, he helped me get emancipated, and agreed to seal my records. That’s my story, Hunter. Adoption isn’t always the saving. You can do background checks on whoever takes Sofi, you can throw money at them, but you’ll never be able to control them.” Tears gathered in her chocolate eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “Don’t do that to her, Hunter.”
“Kitten.” I couldn’t handle the distance anymore, so I pulled Amelia in my arms. “Sofi is fine. She’s in her room sleeping. Right now, my concern is you. You were hurt, and I’ll do everything in my power to make it better.”
“I’m ok. I’ve learned to fight my demons. Maybe someday you’ll do the same.”
Yeah. Maybe someday.
The one thing I was sure of was that Amelia was mine and we could have a new life together. We could both rise from the ashes and build a future, a family, but there were a few things I needed to take care of first. I needed to make things right for us.
