The words ’swapped’ continued to echo mercilessly in Claire’s mind. So, the people she had called "Mom" and "Dad" for twenty seven years were not her real parents. That’s why they were treating and looking at her with such detachment.
The two men she had grown up calling brothers were not her real brothers, and they were saying that her luggage was all packed up, and they wanted her out of the house she had been raised in.
A tremor ran through her hands as she scribbled the truth into her mind: I was never theirs. Nothing here ever belonged to me!
Donna burst into laughter, patting her chest as she looked at her sister-in-law, Heimi. "Heimi, nice one. But, it is not funny. This kind of joke traumatizes children."
Heimi glared at Donna in return. "Who says it’s a joke? Ritah is my daughter, and Claire is yours. We already did the DNA test and--"
"When?" Claire interrupted with a bark.
"Last month." Ritah rushed to answer.
But at the same time, Alden replied, "Two weeks ago."
Heimi’s answer crashed with the two responses, "Yesterday."
The three different answers confused Claire, and Victor’s family.
"Last month, two weeks ago, yesterday." Claire focused on her parents--now her aunt and uncle. "Which is it? It seems to me like you don’t have your story straight."
The room fell quiet for a moment, until Ritah’s soft sobs brought everyone’s attention back to her. "I am sorry, Claire. I didn’t mean to keep it from you. I didn’t mean to take Andrew from you either. I will leave and give everything back to you." Tears fell from her brown eyes, like water leaking from a faucet.
Alden, Heimi and their sons all glared at Claire as if she were the devil.
"I will never come back to you, even if you beg me on your knees." Andrew declared, pointing a finger at Claire, his eyes burning with anger.
Claire did not rush to respond. One by one, the men she once called her brothers shouted accusations at her, commanding her to apologize to Ritah. Her fake act was bought by everyone as usual.
"Apologize for what?" Claire asked, when her ears reached their tolerance for the stupidity. "Have I asked Ritah to leave? Have I begged to stay here with a family of deaf bats? Have I said that I want to cling to Andrew trash landfill?"
Donna gasped. Andrew sneered while Alden rose in anger.
"Victor," Alden barked, "are you going to let your daughter talk to us like that? How dare she call my family deaf bats?"
Before Victor could answer, Claire raised her voice. "Is it a lie? Your daughter lies and makes up fake stories and squeezes a few tears out of her eyes and you all fall for it like blind men falling down a manhole. I would not stay in this family if you begged me."
Ritah stuck her head out from Heimi’s embrace. "Cousin--"
"Shut up before I do something that will actually make you cry." Claire snapped. "I used to think you were a scheming person, a trait that was absent in your parents and siblings and I often wondered how you could be so different from them, and now I know." She gestured to Alden. "You are just like your father," her finger found Heimi, "mother," then, the brothers, "and your brothers."
Heimi picked up a cup from the table and hurled it at Claire. But Victor intercepted it.
"You bitch, no wonder I have never liked you." Heimi growled like an angry dog. "I have raised you for so many years, and this is the thanks I get?"
Claire laughed. "You raised me! The nanny raised me and when I was old enough to take care of myself, I took over from the nanny. Even the family company was started with money I won at the Junior Math Challenge Competition at the age of nine. Two hundred fifty thousand dollars! Before that, Alden owned one ordinary restaurant. I went on interviews and advertised that restaurant. By the age of sixteen, I was writing business proposals and doing food research to push your family to greater heights. I am the one who raised you...all of you."
Once again, there was a moment of silence. Alden’s face was red with anger and shame. Heimi looked like she was ready to stab Claire to death. Victor and his family were shocked because when Alden bragged about his success, he never mentioned Claire’s name or contributions.
Claire smiled sarcastically at James and Cordy. "I always knew the two of you were afraid of my success in the company. But I pretended it was not real, because you were nice to me, and we were family. You must be relieved to have a dumb sister that is not a threat to your positions anymore." She clapped slowly. "Congratulations, James. Now you can sleep in peace knowing that you will inherit all I built with my blood and sweat."
James clenched his hands into fists.
"Shut up." Cordy hissed. "Who is afraid of you? We work hard as well. You are not the only capable person in this family. Creating a few recipes does not make you queen of the food industry."
Claire laughed--a dismissive ripple that shrank Cordy’s confidence, leaving him feeling smaller and beneath her. A feeling he was not new to.
"Let me guess," Claire leaned forward. She moved her finger in circles, forming an invisible circular shape around Alden’s family and Andrew. "You all found out that I was not Alden’s biological daughter two years ago."
Donna gasped, while Victor looked between his brother, and Claire. "Is this true brother?"
Alden clenched his jaw. "It’s not true. Stop spinning wild stories here, Claire."
Claire sneered before tapping a finger to her right temple. "IQ of 150. Has the deaf bat family forgotten? I admit I have missed a few things here and there, like Andrew trash and fish mouth Ritah trading body fluids in dark corners like sewer rats behind my back.
But that’s because I was busy in the last two years, thanks to all these sudden expansions you have been pushing for in the business, Alden. I have been traveling a lot. So I haven’t seen Andrew more than ten times in these two years." She fixed her eyes on Alden. "I guess you wanted to squeeze out as much value as you could out of me before the truth came out."
Alden’s face that was already flushed red, became even redder.
"You son of a bitch!" Victor barked at his brother. He would have punched his brother right there, but his sons pulled him back.
Claire went on confidently, as if she was not in the center of the storm. "Two years ago, Ritah, James and Heimi got into a car accident while leaving the grocery store. Heimi needed a blood transfusion and Ritah volunteered. I don’t know what happened in between, but the following week, Ritah moved into this house and Heimi was suddenly the devoted, loving mother.
Andrew suddenly started greeting fish mouth Ritah, which he never did before. Now that the truth is out, even a fool can put this puzzle together." She clapped her hands again. "Wow! Just wow! There is no greater bond than that of a family which comes together to scheme evil. Let me guess, you have already kicked me out of the company as well and started some kind of smear campaign against me."