Where Blood Meant Nothing

I was the heiress switched at birth by a nanny.

It was not until I turned eighteen that my biological parents finally found me, and traded me back for the girl they had raised and loved as their own.

However, fate played a cruel joke that very same week.

My parents died in a car accident. The family business collapsed. In one night, I lost everything.

My older brother survived, but his kidneys failed.

I did not hesitate. I gave him mine.

However, grief broke something in him. Blaming me for our parents' deaths, he spiraled into madness.

"You killed Mom and Dad! Why wasn't it you who died instead?" he screamed.

I gave up college and took on three jobs a day just to pay for his treatment.

Years passed.

One day, while cleaning a mansion as a housekeeper, I saw her, the "sister" I was traded for, gliding through a lavish party, dressed in designer clothes and dripping in jewels.

I froze when I heard the voices I had long thought silenced.

My parents, alive, speaking to her as gently as ever:

"Jasmine, you're so compassionate… agreeing to end Helen's punishment early."

My brother, the one who should still be seeing a therapist, frowned and objected.

"No. Not even a day less. Just because she suffers a little doesn't mean she deserves to live."

I glanced down at the medical report still warm in my hands.

For the first time in years, I smiled.

"Perfect," I whispered. "Now I can finally die like I wanted to."

The day I found out I had late-stage stomach cancer, I thought it could not get worse. I just wanted some cheap pain medications to dull the ache.

However, the second I walked through the door, I received a greeting I did not expect. It was a cup hurled at my head with deadly aim.

My vision reddened as I locked eyes with my brother, Will, his own eyes blazing with anger.

"Today's the anniversary of Mom and Dad's passing. Where on earth did you vanish to?" he shouted, yanking me by the hair and dragging me down in front of the family portraits, demanding an apology.

"If it weren't for you, they'd still be alive! Apologize! Admit you're in the wrong..."

Before, I would have caved to his demands, apologizing to the smiling faces in the photos.

However, after seeing how they doted on Jasmine Hawkins, our adopted sister, I finally understood something. The love I had been starved of all those years was never meant for me.

The throbbing in my head was making me woozy.

"What did I do?" I asked.

For 18 years, Jasmine's family treated me like dirt. My own parents caused that car crash for Jasmine's sake, leaving me with a decade of guilt.

I gave up a kidney to save my brother, worked myself to the bone to pay his medical bills, and finally, I was sick and broke. Was that my fault, too?

"You messed up, making them switch your identity with Jasmine's. That was your mistake!

"Helen, you're only getting what you deserve!" he snarled, slamming my head against the floor.

Everything went black with the sharp crack, but he did not stop, not until his phone rang with a tune I knew too well. It was Jasmine.

He hung up and exploded again.

"Helen, cut the act. Did you upset Jasmine again?" he growled, gripping my hair like he wanted to end me right there.

However, my strength was fading fast.

"I didn't... I swear I didn't..."

I tried to explain to Will, my voice barely a whisper.

He did not buy it, convinced I was lying through my teeth.

He strung me up under the staircase, leaving me dangling in the air.

The chill from the wall and the sharp pain in my hands were almost too much to bear.

Will grabbed my chin, his eyes filled with a disgust I had never seen before.

"If anything happens to Jasmine, you'll regret it forever."

I watched him walk away, the weakness in my body screaming at me to fight for my life.

Luckily for me, the rope was not tied too tightly. With every ounce of strength, I rubbed my hands raw against it. Finally, just before the break of dawn, I hit the ground.

The next thing I knew, I woke up in a hospital bed.

I turned to see Melissa Parker, my landlady, looking at me with such kindness.

"Helen, how are you feeling? Are you still in pain?"

My hands were bandaged; her soft voice almost brought me to tears.

"I'm okay now, Mrs. Parker. Can you help me with the discharge papers? I'm broke.

"And about the rent, I've got it covered, but I won't be renewing my lease..."

I blurted out everything in one go, then braced myself against the pain as I searched for the money.

Melissa sighed and handed me the doctor's report. "Helen, the doctor says you don't have much time left.

"Why don't you take better care of yourself?"

That was when I could not hold back the tears any longer.

I did not cry when Will lashed out at me in his illness.

I did not cry when customers gave me a hard time at work.

I did not cry when I found out about the cancer.

However, Melissa's words broke the dam, and I sobbed uncontrollably.

At least I had three months. I had three months to ditch my family and finally live for myself.