Here I Stand

When my biological parents found me, I was picking up trash next to the garbage bin.

In the scorching July, flies buzzed around me.

The nauseating sour smell could be smelled from ten yards away.

But I ignored it and remained oblivious.

My birth mother and her adopted daughter wore big masks and kept their distance from me.

It was my birth father who approached me and softly called my name.

I turned around numbly and stared at the bottle of mineral water in his hand.

Then I extended my scarred hand and humbly asked him,

"Sir, can I have the bottle?"

Tears welled up in my birth father's eyes.

He ignored the foul smell and hugged me tightly.

I looked coldly at my birth mother and her fake daughter in the distance.

...

The show was about to begin.

1

I sat in my father's Maybach and returned to the villa.

Amelia Walker felt so nauseous from my scent that she vomited as soon as she got out of the car.

Tears welled up in my birth mother's eyes as she patted her back, handing her a napkin and water.

My birth father looked displeased at the scene in front of him.

I tightly twisted my coat, nervously looking at my birth father.

"I'm sorry, Dad..."

My father patted my shoulder, the guilt in his eyes deepening, "Audrey, it's not your fault."

My birth mother looked back at me, with an embarrassed expression.

I shook my head at her and said obediently, "Mom, it's okay. I'm already used to being hated by others."

My birth mother's eyelids trembled.

She was filled with pity and guilt.

I timidly asked, "Mom, can I take a bath?"

My birth mother came back to her senses and said, "Of course you can... Della, take Audrey upstairs to take a bath."

Look, that was my birth mother.

She lost me when I was five years old, and two years later, she mistook Amelia for me and brought her home.

I led a vagrant life.

But she found me dirty and disgusting.

She didn't even want to take me to a hot bath.

...

In the bathroom, I submerged my body in the water, washing away all the dirt and the twelve years of pent-up frustration.

I was back.

But it was clear that Amelia didn't want to leave.

Even my birth mother didn't want her to go.

...

Della helped me change the water four or five times.

When the water in the bath finally became clear, my birth mother came.

She tentatively asked me, "Audrey, do you want me to scrub your back?"

"Sure."

After all, I had been waiting for this moment.

My birth mother obviously didn't expect me to agree so easily.

She was stunned for a moment and hurriedly grabbed a towel.

I stood up from the bath and confidently showed her my body.

My birth mother suddenly exclaimed and dropped the towel.

Trembling, she touched the centipede-like scar on my waist.

"Audrey, what happened?"

I looked down, remained silent for a while, and whispered,

"Mom, it's not a big deal. One year, my foster mother got sick and didn't have money for treatment, so I sold a kidney."

"What?!"

My birth mother grabbed my shoulders, tears silently streaming down her face, and then she bur...