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“That was delicious,” I smiled as I helped my parents clear away the dishes.

Mom smiled, clearly pleased with the new recipe she’d come up with.

I hesitantly hovered between the kitchen and dining room after I’d cleaned the dishes. I couldn’t drag this out any longer. Besides, I was confident that they were my parents. For me to think otherwise just wouldn’t make sense.

I took out my bracelet and slipped it on. The worst that could happen was that my parents would feel heartbroken that I would even question something like this.

“Mom, dad?”

“We’re in the living room,” mom called back.

I walked in and they made space for me on the couch. They were watching the news. The government was calling for a statement from the royal family regarding the crown prince. They wanted to know where the princes were and why they had been gone for so long.

“How can they rule the kingdom properly, if they don’t even live here?” the prime minister seethed. “It’s outrageous!”

If only he knew that the princes were right under his nose. It seemed weird to me that the royal family would just trust me with such a big secret. I wouldn’t tell anyone, but how could they be so sure of that?

I guess me exposing Ashton would only expose our betrothal and that would lead to a more formal engagement. They knew I wanted to avoid that. However, the king’s plan was flawed. I simply was not Elizabeth. I frowned at that though. Me not being Elizabeth meant that he was either lying or he’d make a mistake.

But what were the odds that me and some other six year old girl named Elizabeth who looked like me would have both gotten into unreported accidents on the same night and that we both had a bracelet like this one?

Reasoning it out, that couldn’t be a coincidence. Unless we were twins. I laughed a little at my own deductions. That was even more unlikely.

Dad turned to me. “Is something on your mind, Lizzy? You seemed a bit off during dinner.”

“Uh…” I glanced between them.

Mom inclined her head in the supportive way she always did to encourage me to say what was on my mind.

“Kind of… It’s really stupid though…”

“Nonsense,” he chuckled. “Let’s hear it. It’s better than listening to the prime minister. It’s obvious that he wants to remove the monarchy just like the Gerevian Kingdom did.”

I played with my bracelet as they stared at me expectantly.

“It’s about that night.” I hesitated as surprise spread across their faces.

The last time I’d asked about the accident was years ago. The doctors had told me that I just wouldn’t be getting my memories back, so I'd just dropped it and focused on my new life.

“What about it?” mom urged me.

“I… This bracelet was yours, wasn’t it?” I asked motioning to it.

Mom nodded. “You had it that night when they found you.”

“Who found me exactly?”

“Someone called an ambulance. It was a very nasty accident. You know that.”

“And then you got the news that I was in the hospital and came as fast as you could,” I sighed, finishing the story.

“Yes.”

“You were on your way to your friend’s birthday party when it happened. She wasn’t as fortunate as you,” dad sighed heavily.

I nodded sadly, wishing I could remember her.

“And then we moved here,” mom concluded. “Why are you curious about that all of a sudden?”

“I just… I was confused about some things. I heard a crazy rumor,” I dismissed.

I just couldn’t bring myself to ask them. It would just shatter their hearts, I knew it.

“What rumor?” mom asked quietly.

“That I was adopted,” I shrugged. “I know it’s really stupid to even consider it.”

Dad’s lip parted in surprise and my mom paled immediately.

“I’m sorry to bother you with stuff like this,” I blushed and forced a laugh. “I’m gonna get some rest. Good night, love you guys.”

I stood up and quickly walked to the stairs to hide my embarrassment. Of course the king was wrong. That was the only explanation that made sense. Ashton could investigate the bracelet if he wanted to, but I already had the answers I needed. I was Elizabeth Donaldson.

“Honey… wait,” mom said, getting up and coming over to me.

“Yeah?” I asked, turning around.

“Where did you hear that rumor?”

“I can’t really say,” I blushed.

“Okay. There’s… there’s something we need to tell you,” she sighed.

“We love you, Elizabeth,” dad said. His face was drawn down and he looked so sad.

“I know,” I said, hugging her. “I didn’t want to make you sad. I trust you.”

“We know,” mom smiled, leading me back over to the couch. She sat me down and dad stood up. I glanced between both of them.

“There’s something you need to know,” she sighed, opening the book case and pulling out the family album. “I don’t know how to say this,” she glanced at dad.

He cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind him. “The truth is, we were going to wait until your eighteenth birthday to do this.”

I frowned. My birthday was still a few months away. What was so important that they had to tell me right now?

“You’ll always be our little girl.” He sighed. “There’s just no way around this is there?”

“Around what, dad?”

“I guess it’s the right time,” mom said, sitting beside me. She took my hands in hers. “The truth is… we don’t know how you got into that accident eleven years ago.”

“What?” I whispered. “But you said-”

“That’s what happened to Liv, our daughter.”

I frowned. Was I missing something here? Who was Liv? And daughter?

“Liv?” I choked. I glanced at dad who sighed again and ran a hand through his greying hair.

“Liv was the one who passed away going to a friend’s party. She was the one in that accident, not you.”

“I’m not understanding. I had a sister?”

“You two never met,” mom explained. “She passed away a few weeks before you came to the hospital. You were all alone and we were contacted to see if we would be willing to adopt you, since we lost little Liv. At first, we were apprehensive, but the moment we saw you… you looked so much like her. We couldn’t say no.”

She started sobbing and dad wrapped his arm around her as she leaned into him.

I couldn’t do anything. I was sitting right there, but it felt like an out of body experience. As if I was floating above them and hearing the conversation from there. My mind was blank. I didn’t know what to think. I… I was adopted?

“I… you…” I stammered.

“We’re sorry, Lizzy,” she cried. “We were going to tell you.”

“You lied to me,” I gasped, standing up on shaky legs. “You told me that I was your daughter!” I yelled.

“You are!” dad insisted.

I ran a hand through my hair, as the conversation finally caught up to my mind. This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be real. Please, no. I closed my eyes, feeling the tears slip down my cheek.

“Lizzy,” dad started, but I stepped away from him.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?!”

“We thought it would have been best if you found out later.”

I didn't know what to believe anymore. My life was a lie after all.

“So you adopted me to replace your daughter?” I whispered angrily.

I grabbed the family album and flipped through the baby pictures. “You told me that this was me!” I sobbed. “You said…”

I brought my trembling hands to my lips. I felt sick. I didn’t want to talk about this anymore.

“Lizzy,” dad tried to reach for me, but I backed away, shaking my head.

I needed to get out of this suffocating room. I threw the album on the couch and ran up the stairs to my room, slamming the door behind me.

“Elizabeth!” I heard mom calling.

She was crying, but I didn’t want to see her right now. I didn’t want her to see how broken-hearted I was about this. I didn’t want to hear their explanations. I’d asked them numerous times about this and they’d lied to me each time.

I curled up in bed, willing myself to stop crying. Now that I thought about it, I should have known. I trusted them so much that I wasn’t willing to believe that they were anyone but who they said they were.

Now that I knew the truth, it hurt even more. I wasn’t their biological daughter. And my biological mother was dead. If it turned out that I wasn’t the girl betrothed to Ashton, then I really wouldn’t know who I was.

A part of me wanted to be that Elizabeth. At least then I’d have some form of identity. But the other part of me didn’t want to be that Elizabeth. I would be stuck in an arranged married to Ashton for the rest of my life and that wasn’t a very comforting thought.

I didn’t know how long I laid there in the darkness, just crying and thinking about how weird my life had gotten in just a few weeks. That was all it took for everything to be turned upside down. I was shaken up by the news that I was adopted, but deep down I knew that that wasn’t the reason that was making me this sad. If they had left me in the hospital, who knew what kind of family I would have ended up in. I was grateful for their sacrifice.

Growing up, there was no doubt in my mind that my parents loved me. But now I wondered if they loved me or if they loved the girl they thought Liv would have grown up to be.

When they looked at me, did they see Elizabeth or Liv?

A low buzz at the bottom of my bed, dragged me out of those depressing thoughts. I reached for my phone, squinting at how bright the light was in the darkness. I’d been lying in bed for hours. It was almost 12 a.m now.

It was a number I didn’t know and I wasn’t going to answer it, but I thought it might be something important if they were calling this late. Maybe it was someone from school.

I cleared my throat and did a quick voice check to see if I sounded presentable enough to answer.

“Hello?”

“Elizabeth.”

I facepalmed myself.

“What do you want, Ashton?”

“You saved my number.”

I could hear his smirk.

“It’s really late,” I sniffed.

There was a pause of silence. “Are you okay?”

That one question brought back all my sadness and I held the phone away from me so that he couldn’t hear the quiet sobs that answered.

“Elizabeth, are you crying?”

His playful tone was completely gone now and if I didn’t know him better I’d have assumed that he was concerned.

“What do you want?” I asked again.

“It’s about the bracelet…” he trailed off.

“I’ll give it to you at school,” I sighed. “If that’s all you wanted, then good night.”

I hung up the call and turned my phone off. I wondered how close the king had been to the truth. I sighed and rolled over. There was a picture of my parents and me on the bedside table.

I turned over again so I wouldn’t be facing it and tried to go to bed. I had a Physics test tomorrow and I wasn’t going to settle for anything less than an A. I ran through some concepts in my head but for the entire night, sleep evaded me.

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