My Birthday, My Downfall novel Chapter 16

My foster parents were just ordinary people. After some interrogation by the police, they quickly revealed the truth—the classic tale of a switched-at-birth situation.

My foster mother had learned that the Hall family was wealthy, so she secretly swapped the babies.

When my real parents found out, they vowed to make the Smith family pay for what they had done.

Xena, upon returning home, packed her things.

"Mom and Dad, thank you for raising me. I truly can't stay here any longer."

She knelt and kowtowed a few times to her parents.

Mom looked troubled, glancing at Dad, unable to make a decision.

"Where will you go?" Mom asked as she helped Xena up. "This has nothing to do with you."

Xena glanced at me, her face full of unspoken words.

It seemed like she was hinting that the reason she had to leave was because of me. Just then, my foster parents called her.

She hesitated for a moment before picking up the phone.

"Xena, don't come back! Charlie keeps insisting that we give you to him."

"It’s our fault; we can’t protect you, we can’t save you!"

My foster mother’s anxious voice came through the speaker.

Xena’s face fell in despair, tears welling up in her eyes. She looked as beautiful as a flower in the rain.

At that moment, I felt that everything was just too coincidental.

Sure enough, once the call ended, Mom immediately spoke. "We can raise two daughters in our family!"

"We can't just push you into a fire pit!"

I calmly picked up the suitcase next to her. "Don’t leave."

The suitcase was so light that I could lift it with one hand. I was surprised. "Why is this suitcase so empty?"

Xena stiffened and snatched the suitcase from me. "I feel like nothing here belongs to me, so there’s nothing I need to take."

She looked awkward, and only then did my parents realize she had been pretending.

They furrowed their brows, seriously reassessing the child who wasn’t related to them by blood.

"Xena, you should go back to your parents," Dad said in a low voice.

Xena's face turned pale. She had thought that by putting on an act, my parents would soften and not let her go.

"I’ve missed you," she said cautiously. "Xena has been recognized by the Smith family and has changed her surname to Smith."

"Your dad and I want to change your surname too."

I looked at her coldly. "My name is Coco Smith."

In fact, I had always known why they hadn’t changed my surname.

Growing up, I lived under the control of my foster parents' moods. I had always been sensitive and aware.

I realized they never truly accepted me from the start. Looking back now, I could see it more clearly.

Mom would cry when she saw me, feeling sorry, but also avoid touching my dirty clothes because she was disgusted by them.

"Come back, please," she said, her lips trembling, with a sob in her voice.

I shook my head, and she finally couldn’t hold back her tears.

She handed me a card. "This card has one million in it."

"Please find a better place to live."

I hesitated, biting my lip, before accepting the card.